Seven Years Well Worth It
by harhar79
Summary: Seven years is a long time... but they wouldn't have had it any other way. See the good ole days of the greatest group of kids ever to step foot on Hogwarts -- Reviews are always welcome! Mahalo.
1. Magical Birthday

**DISCLAIMER: So far into the story, I only own Rose & David Evans, and Jade.  Those are my own characters.  The rest is all JK Rowlings's.  If you see anything familiar throughout… those are also hers.  If it's different, it's mine!!! Thank you and mahalo.  Reviews are very kind. **

**~ ~ ~Love and Justice: The Tall-tale Story of Lily Evans and James Potter~ ~ ~**

_Ring-ring-ring-ring!!!…_

With fluttering eyes, 11-year old Lily Evans awoke with a radiating smile on her face.  

The sun was beaming off of the transparent curtains in her cozy and comfortable bedroom, and Lily was delighted to be awaken by such a radiant day….. for today was the day that would change Lillian Maria Evans' life forever.

"My birthday….." she whispered to herself.  Yes, that's right.  July 28 was Lily's birthday.  She has been waiting for this day to come for a couple of weeks, because she overheard her mother and father planning a special surprise for their lovely red-headed daughter.  She groggily eased herself to the bathroom to wash herself up.  It was the usual daily routine for any newly 11-year old girls: a nice long hot shower, brushing her teeth, washing her face, blow-drying her soft red hair until it sparkled under the fluorescent light.  Then after dressing herself in a comfortable shirt and shorts, she bounded onwards down the stairs, grinning happily and eager at what surprise her parents had in store for her.  Unfortunately for Lily, her parents…. were not the first she saw that day.

"Why hello my loseristic sister," snapped Petunia.  Petunia Evans did not like Lily at all.  The older of the two, Petunia was nothing like the kind and caring Lily (though Lily had a wild streak of her own with her hot temper).  Her brownish-gold hair clashed horribly with the applied make-up that she put on.  She, however, could not pull off the beauty that her little sister could easily do.  Her face resembled that of a sick horse, really.  The thought of her being related to Lily wasn't believed by most people, but they seem to have gotten the hint.  After all, Petunia and Lily were both names of a flower.

"Petunia, how _lovely _to see you," said Lily with a bit of sarcasm in her voice.

"Just stay out of my way today, Lillian.  I don't want to see that pathetic smile of yours.  I most definitely am NOT planning on attending our annual get-togethers with Mum and Dad.  I'm planning on snagging a date for myself tonight… so don't go anywhere near me, you plague." And with that, Petunia walked off into her room.

"You don't have to tell me twice!!! AND DON'T CALL ME LILLIAN! I HATE THAT!" shouted Lily.  However, in her heart, she was deeply hurt.  _How could she treat me this way...it's my birthday for crying out loud!!! I'll never understand my sister.  I love her dearly but she makes it so hard! _Lily snapped back to reality and headed on into the living room.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY LILY!!!!"

There in the middle of the room, Rose and David Evans were standing with huge grins on their faces… eagerly waiting for their daughter's arrival.  Lily smiled as she went and hugged her parents with much gratitude.

"Lily dearest, where's your sister?" her Mum said.

"Ummm.. busy I guess," replied Lily.

"Oh nonsense.  No one will be busy on our Princess's birthday!  Tonight we'll be going to your favorite place in the world!"

"You mean….."

"Charlie's Factory of Fun!!!" screamed her Mum and Dad.

"Oh thank you thank you!!! Truly this is the best birthday I've ever had!" Lily screamed as she hugged her parents tight.

Oh boy, she had no idea that this actually WAS going to be an interesting birthday indeed…….

Well as we move on later in the day, it turns out Petunia could not get the date she wanted.  The boy 'supposedly' said that he was rather busy that day, and this disappointed Petunia.  One because she put on makeup for nothing, and two was that she had to tag-along with her family for Lily's birthday.

She sulkily went back to her house after her unsuccessful rendezvous with her date-to-be.

"I don't know what went wrong…" she said.  

"It's alright, dear.  That boy probably needs glasses.  He just doesn't see how incredibly… decent you are," smiled Dad.  

Lily, however, tried desperately to hide a giggle, in which she failed horribly, considering that Petunia had put on too much lipstick. Now instead of a horse, she now looked like a revolting vampire, which probably scared the wits out of the poor boy.  What a pity.  Soon, after ignoring the bird on their porch as they walked out, the Evans Family was off to Charlie's Factory of Fun, where they would be having dinner and a night of pure fun.  Lily had the usual, chicken fingers and French fries with a hot-fudge sundae on the side, and the waiters and waitresses graciously sang her a happy birthday much to her delight in front of everyone in the place.  Of course, Lily knew that her parents planned this, so she smiled up at them and gave them each a hug and a kiss before wandering off into the game room.  Petunia, however, sulked under her chair, waiting for time to fly by.  With her being a _mature and sophisticated _13-year old, Petunia thought of this place as too immature for her.  "It's a place for bratty little kids," she told her parents, and after a quick scolding, Rose and David also went off into the game room to enjoy the nights for themselves.  Along with Lily, this also was Rose's favorite place in the world.  It was here that she met David, and it changed her life forever.  She was hoping that maybe by taking her daughters here, it would have a great effect on their lives too, especially for Lily.  Although she never admitted it, she favored Lily slightly more than Petunia.  Maybe it was because of the fact that Lily seemed so care-free and reminded her of herself back when she was little.  _Maybe this place will be of importance to her, _she thought.  She was right, of course.

Lily sat down into a chair and searched in her pockets for two tokens so that she could play the racing game.  After sliding one in, she tried to slide the other one, but the token slipped out of her hands and fell on the floor behind her.  She got up to go get it and as she bent down to pick it up, a hand was placed on hers and she looked up to find a black-haired girl staring back up at her, smiling.  

"I'm sorry, is this yours??" asked the girl.  After seeing a free token, she eagerly wanted to pick it up, but after seeing the redhead, she figured she might as well ask if it was hers or not.

"Yes" replied Lily.  

"Oh I'm sorry.  I thought it was just another free token so I wanted to pick it up.  It's all yours."

"Thanks so much. Oh, my name is Lily. Lily Evans"

"Hi, I'm Jade Chapman. Nice to meet you." And they shook hands, knowing that they made a new friend.

"Umm, so are you out of tokens or something, Jade?"

"Y-yes.  See I could only afford five dollars worth.  It's all my parents gave me." Jade replied shyly.

"Well you can have some of mine if you want.  It's going to take me all night to get rid of these things, and I could use a little company.  Besides, we might be here for a while." Lily replied after glancing at her parents who were currently enjoying a whack-the-clown game.  

Jade giggled.  "Thanks, I'll be glad to keep you company.  I was having such a boring time by myself."  

With that,  Lily and Jade spent the entire evening together, playing nearly every single game in the place.  Lily was with the strategy games, like Pong and Bust-a-Move.  Jade however seemed to have an advantage at the racing and sporty games.  "I like sports," was all she merely said to Lily.  They were a terrific pairing, and in just one night, Lily and Jade grew to be very good friends.  All good nights come to an end however, and it was time for Lily to go home. 

"I hope to see you sometime, Jade!!  What school do you go to.  I don't see you at my public school."

"Umm, I used to go to Rockage Academy for Girls, but I… uhh… I'm going to transfer to a boarding school this year."

"Oh, well I'll see you around then! Bye."

"Bye."

When Lily returned home, she felt as if the day couldn't get any better, but right when they pulled into the driveway of their house, a strange sight was perched on their porch, literally.  An owl with a piece of parchment was patiently waiting on the porch.  What made it so strange was that it was the same bird that was sitting there just a while back.  Lily decided to greet the owl with an affectionate nip, while the owl stuck out his leg for her to untie the parchment.  It was addressed to Lily Evans,  Room with the Transparent Curtain, Two-story House, Honey Lane.  Lily was surprised at this newly-found letter.  When she read it however, she nearly fainted.

 


	2. Diagon Alley: The Place of Dreams

Chapter 2

Lily read it to herself, still amazed at the words on the parchment

**HOGWARTS SCHOOL _of_ WITCHCRAFT _and_ WIZARDRY**

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. Of Wizards)

_Dear Miss Evans,_

_  We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.  Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

_  Term begins on September 1.  We await your owl by no later than July 31._

_Yours sincerely,_

Minerva McGonagall 

_Minerva McGonagall,_

_Deputy Headmistress_

Lily couldn't believe her eyes or her ears as she read it aloud to herself again for the fifth time.  She decided to sleep in on it, and notify her parents tomorrow.  After washing up, she drifted off into bed and had a nice sleep, dreaming of witches, wizards, brooms, and magic.

"Excuse me, Lily? A magic school?!?!?!" exclaimed her Mum.  She was definitely surprised at this startling news, and her dad was also wide-eyed and speechless.

"Yes, Mum.  Pleeeeeeasse can I go?? It sounds like so much fun!  It says that I should owl them before July 31.  That's 2 days from now! I guess what they mean is that I should reply back with my acceptance letter with the owl that they sent, which is still here by the way.  But please Mum? Dad?

Rose and David thought about this for a while.  _A magic school?!?! This is crazy! Imagine all the adventures and such and all these different things our Lily can learn there!!!  _Then it dawned on them.  Adventures.  Experiences.  It's what they always wanted for their children.  With a smile on their faces, they gratefully gave permission to an ecstatic and jumping Lily.  Rose wrote the letter of permit and sent it back to the sender.  Not more than an hour later, an owl fluttered back reminding Lily that her supplies could be located in Diagon Alley, which is located near the Leaky Cauldron in London.  They set the date for the family to travel to London for August 10, which gave Lily plenty of time before her departure to read up on some material.  She knew nothing about magic, and this was all a dream to her.  Petunia, however, was completely mortified.  She felt scared of her sister, and also a little jealous.  Jealous that it was the special Lily that got this letter and not her.  For this, she decided that all of her kind were 'freaks' and not normal.  Lily did not like this attitude and it just made her mad and also felt a little sorry for her sister.  She didn't mean for this to happen after all.  Still, she was just as excited as she was on her birthday when August 10 rolled around the corner.

"Come on, Mum, let's go!! We don't have much time!

"Lily, dear… it's 8 in the bloody morning.  We'll be in London by 9:30, and that gives more than enough time to buy your things!"

"I know, but still… let's go!!!

With happy chuckles along with stressed-out faces, Rose, David, Lily, and Petunia (much to her disgust) arrived at the Leaky Cauldron.  It was a dirty nasty pub and nothing like what Lily expected it to be.  They decided that they should go in and observe the place.  As soon as they went in, the bartender, named Tom, recognized the letter clutched in Lily's hands and smiled.  

"Over here, young lady!  Hogwarts, I assume?"

"Yes, sir. We're trying to look for…….. Diagon Alley."

"Well, follow me.. Mr. And Mrs……"

"Evans," Lily's dad replied.  "Please call us David and Rose.  This is Lily, and the girl in the back is Petunia."

"Ahh, nice to meet you all, call me Tom. And please, follow me," he said happily.

They followed Tom to the back of the pub, right towards a brick wall.  He then started muttering to himself as if he was trying to remember something, and suddenly pulled out a medium-sized stick..  _A wand! _Lily shrieked.  He began to tap bricks here and there, in a sort of pattern, and soon the brick walls opened up to a big and beautiful place.  Lily and her parents stood in amazement, while Petunia was still trying to hide behind her dad.

"Welcome… to Diagon Alley!!" exclaimed Tom.

After saying their thank-you's, Lily and her parents decided to go into this wonderful place, while Petunia decided to stay with Tom back at the pub.  Mr. and Mrs. Evans reluctantly agreed and soon they were off into the depths of Diagon Alley.  They first set off to the wizarding bank, Gringotts, to exchange for wizard money.  Lily learned the different prices of galleons, knuts, and sickles quickly and then searched around her for her envelope to see what she needed to buy.

UNIFORM

**First year students will require:**

**1. ****Three sets of plain work robes (black)**

**2. ****One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear**

**3. ****One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)**

**4. ****One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)**

**Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags**

COURSE BOOKS

**All students should have a copy of each of the following:**

**            _The Standard Book of Spells_ (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk**

**            _A History of Magic_ by Bathilda Bagshot**

**            _Magical Theory_ by Adalbert Waffling**

**            _A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration_ by Emeric Switch**

**            _1001 Magical Herbs and Fungi_ by Phyllida Spore**

**            _Magical Drafts and Potions_ by Arsenius Jigger**

**            _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_ by Newt Scamander**

**            _The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection_ by Quentin Trimble**

OTHER EQUIPMENT

**            1 wand**

**            1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)**

**            1 set glass or crystal phials**

**            1 telescope**

**            1 set brass scales**

**Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad**

**PARENTS ARE  REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS.**

"So… where do we start first??" said her Mum with a smile.

With excitement, Lily strode on to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions to buy her robes.  She was fitted by a young worker named Cherry, and after getting all of her stuff, she and her parents made their way to Ollivander's where she would get her wand, where she was met by an old man with a warm smile.

"Ah, yes, come in.  Hogwarts I assume.  And you are?"

"Lily Evans, sir."

"Hmm yes I see, so you are interested in a wand.  However, it's the wand that chooses you, not you choosing the wand." With that he pulled out plenty of boxes with wands in them.  Lily tried the whole lot, but most of them either did nothing, slammed some books into the wall, or cursed her Dad by having owl pellets (poop!) drop from nowhere, which she was dreadfully sorry for… although she and her Mum found it rather funny while her Dad muttered under his breath while he tried to wash it off.  Finally, she came across a wand where when she touched it, it radiated with a bright aura, and Lily felt a strange surge of energy rush through her veins.

"Yes, that is the wand for you, Miss Evans.  That wand is extremely powerful, especially in the subject of Charms.  I'm glad to tell that you will do very well at your school, young lady."

With a shy "thanks" her and her family moved off to buy the rest of her things for her school.  Late into the afternoon, Lily and her parents decided to head back to the Leaky Cauldron after grabbing a some ice cream.  When they arrived, they thanked Tom and picked up Petunia, who had a pale face, and were on their way back home.  Petunia complained the whole way that she could've had better things to do than to be stuck with a nut like Tom, along with all the other 'freaks' in that pub.  Mr. and Mrs. Evans sighed dramatically while Lily looked out the window, happy with her life.  She couldn't wait for September 1st.  She would be away from Petunia, and although she would miss her parents greatly, she anticipated the thought of being able to meet new people, and do magic.  Magic!!!! She could hardly believe that in less than a month, she would be learning what many people in the world would kill to learn.  She went off to sleep again, dreaming of her life as a witch.  What a wonderful dream, and what wonderful life it was for Lillian Marie Evans.


	3. Dungbombs and Dumb boys same smell, diff...

DISCLAIMER: JK Rowling owns all the Harry Potter characters.  I own the rest.  Nuff said.  On with the story!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

brunet-barbie-84 – Thanks!!! You are the first review for my story.  I appreciate it greatly, and you are my new favorite person ha.  Hope you write one soon, I'll try and be your frist reviewer too!!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 3: Crazy platforms and dungbombs. actually more like 'dumb boys'

The day has finally come.  September 1st came and Lily Evans was awake by 6 am already trying to wake her parents up for her trip to Hogwarts.

"Mum! Dad! It's today, it's today!!!  Hurry and wake up!! We might miss it!!

Rose stirred in her sleep.  "David, your daughter is awake.

David replied with a sulky tone, "Before eight o'clock, she's you're daughter."

Seeing that her attempt to wake up her parents would not work, she decided to wash up and make her own mini-breakfast.  After eating, she quietly crept up to her room as not to wake anyone, and reviewed to herself what she needed.  She went over everything from cauldrons, to robes, to her new owl, whom she named Hershey because it reminded her of chocolate with its brown feathers. After double-checking, Lily religiously opened up her school books and started to read a couple of them carefully.  She wanted to do well in this new school of hers.  Her parents were so proud of her for being accepted.  They now understood why all those weird incidents in the past.  With the cake throwing itself into Petunia's face, and the finding of David's wallet, after he knew for sure he had left it at the restaurant.  How it wound up in Lily's hands the next day was sure amazing, with Lily saying that she thought all about it the night before.  It all made perfect sense.  Their daughter was indeed something unique.  Lily knew they were proud, but she wanted to actually be something they could be proud of.  She then promised herself that she would study hard and get the best grades in the school.  She would excel in whatever she does, and she would definitely be the apple of her parents' eyes.  She assumed she knew some spells and whatnot already, but she couldn't try it out, because of the restriction of underage wizardry law.  However, she didn't mention this to Petunia, and every day scared the wits out of her saying that she knew curses and hexes that would make her life miserable.  Petunia was on her mind too.  She wanted to prove to her sister that she could do well, and that she wasn't some sort of 'freak'.  She figured that if she came back as the top student in her class, maybe she'd finally give Lily a chance and that they'd finally become true sisters, instead of loathing one another… the loathing was more on Petunia's side really.  Lily was just plain annoyed of her loathing, that's all.  As she was reading her eyes began to droop again, and she slowly drifted off for a nice nap before her first day as a witch.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Wake up, Princess.  It's time to go."

Mr. Evans lightly shook his daughter awake, and she opened her eyes with a wide smile.  Her eyes were very enchanting.  Her dad said that it was his favorite part about Lily.  One look in Lily's eyes and people were hypnotized by it.  He knew definitely he would have to watch out for incoming boys in the future, when Lily would suddenly develop those inevitable hormones about guys. _Stupid hormones.  They shouldn't exist ever. _He knew that they would though, and he chuckled to himself for saying such nonsense. However, no matter what, to Mr. Evans, Lily will always be his Little Flower.  His Lily.  He smiled happily at her as she woke and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"It's time, Lily.  Are you ready?"

"Yes!!! Thanks for waking me, Daddy," and with that she was off like a jet loading her trunk into the car

Mr. Evans just shook his head and followed his precious daughter down towards the car.

Petunia once again was forced to come along and they were off towards King's Cross.  Lily was once again day-dreaming about her upcoming day, and her parents were chatting to themselves about what to do while their Little Flower was away at school.  They would definitely miss her.  When they finally got there, they unloaded Lily's things into the trunk, and were strolling around King's Cross.

"What did you say your ticket was, Lily?"

"Platform nine… and three quarters???"

"WHAT?!!?!? There's no such thing, dear. Let me take a look at it."

Her mom took a look and then closed her eyes… then once more looked at it again.

"My goodness it IS platform nine and three-quarters.  How odd."

"Mum what do I do?? I don't know where it is… all the boards say is platform 9 and 10."

"It's ok sweetie, we're still early. we'll figure it out."

For an hour, they waited, but couldn't figure out where the platform was.  Lily soon started to tear, thinking that maybe this whole thing was a hoax.  Maybe she wasn't a witch after all.  Suddenly she heard a small shriek of her name. "LILY!"

Jade stood smiling at her .

"Oh Jade!!! What are you doing here?"

They shared a hug and Jade replied, "Ummm.. I'm gonna go to school now, heh."

"Oh… uhh.. me too…"

"Really… where to?" Jade asked hopefully.

"Oh ummm.."

"Is that an owl you have there?!?!"

"Y-y-yes. It is."

"Oh my gosh, Lily, you're going to Hogwarts??? ME TOO!!!!!!"

"Really?? Wait… where are you supposed to board?"

"Platform nine and three-quarters. I'm headed there right now."

"Really?? Umm, can you show me where it is?"

"Sure!! Hmm… you're a muggle aren't you."

"A mu-what?"

"Oh, sorry haha.  A muggle is a wizard coming from a family with no magic in their blood…. I'll explain more to you when we get settled on the train."

"OK.  Oh!!! Mum, Dad, this is Jade.  I met her at Charlie's."

"Lovely to meet you Jade, dearest," said Mr. and Mrs. Evans.

"Likewise," replied Jade.

"Well, Lily here's the trick.  See the barrier between platforms nine and ten? Just run through it."

"Excuse me?" 

"Run through it! Come on, we'll go together."

Lily said her goodbyes to her parents and gave a small smile to Petunia.  She tried to separate herself from her parents' death-gripping hugs and tears began to flow from her Mum's eyes.  This would be the first time Lily would be away from them.

"Goodbye." Mrs Evans cried.  "Owl us whenever you can!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With one more look back towards her family, Lily turned around… her and Jade together ran towards the barrier, and instead of crashing, went through surprisingly.  Lily looked up and smiled for it said in bold letters.  **PLATFORM 9 ¾ .  **Lily and Jade left their trunks and carts with a man who said they'd load for them, and went inside the train to find an empty compartment for themselves.  They watched as countless kids began to pile up inside the train, and soon they were off towards Hogwarts.  Jade explained to Lily that she was a pure-blood, coming from a wizard family.  She knew that she'd be going to Hogwarts because she knew her parents graduated from there when they were young.  Lily was rather glad to at least know someone that will be going to school with her. Jade explained to her a more definite definition of a muggle, and Lily understood clearly that she was once again, unique.  Lily then amazed Jade by finishing her description of Hogwarts, and how each student got sorted into four houses : Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff.  The four were chatting merrily until the door immediately opened from their compartment.  There stood two boys, about the same age as Lily and Jade, and they were grinning mischievously at each other while giving each other a high-five.  One boy had mysterious blue eyes and was rather good-looking for his age.  His hair was in a neat shape, and his smile resembled that of a little kid.  The other was also handsome.  He had chocolate brown eyes, and jet-black hair.  His hair, however, looked like a fit.  It was nowhere as neat as his friend's, and even though he tried fixing it, it just made it look even more messy.  The two girls looked at them strangely.

"Umm, can we help you?" Jade asked.

"Oh!! Ohhhh well hello there, I'm Sirius Black.  A pleasure." Sirius swooned.  
"Jade Chapman.  And it's more of a pain than a pleasure."

The other boy laughed at this remark, but all it did was earn a glare from Lily.

"And who might you be?"

"James Potter. At your service." he said with a bow.

"Lily Evans. And we don't need your service. If we did we would've asked, and you would've been so kind as to at least knock."

"Sorry Miss Sophisticated."

"Wow, a word with more than two syllables. I'm impressed Potter."

"Thanks, Evans!!!"

Jade however, was distracted by a disgusting smell.

"What in blazes is that horrid stench! 

Lily soon sniffed it too…. "GROSS! WHAT IS THAT?!?!

"Dungbombs, don't leave home with out it." James and Sirius chorused.

"The best way to empty out a room." Sirius added.  
"Or in this case a compartment.  Not this one though, since it's already plagued with… you two."

"Shut it, Potter." Lily snapped.

Sirius laughed at his friend.

"Go away Black.  You're just as worse as him and those dungbombs of yours." Jade added in.

With that, James and Sirius gave the girls a somewhat dashing smile, and ran off. To Lily and Jade however, all it did was annoy them even more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Those two girls, they're pretty spunky." Sirius said to James.

"And cute, too," James added.

"Perhaps we'll be seeing more of those two particular ladies during our years here."  
"Oh forget the girls, Sirius.  We're gonna have some fun."

"You bet, Jimmy."

"Shut up, I hate that name…"  
"I know… I'll be sure to tell our new friend Lily that then, eh James?"

"You wouldn't…"

"Oh I would."

"Bastard"

"Goof-ball."

"Dummy."

"Foolio."

"Git."

"Tig."

"Huh?"

"I don't know.. I got lost, so I just kinda reversed the word 'git'."

"Sirius, you're an idiot."

"No, I'm Sirius."

"No I'M SEEE-RIIII-OOUUSSS."

"Ha ha." Sirius concluded.

Hours passed and James and Sirius were busy eating their candy from the cart-lady, while Lily and Jade conversed more to each other in the other compartment.  The idiots known as James Potter and Sirius Black were currently forgotten and Jade was explaining to Lily about quidditch.  Lily was very fascinated at this sport, but said that she would never play it herself.  Jade, however, was an avid fan, and couldn't wait to get a broom of her own.  She wanted to be on the team next year, cursing about the rules of first-years not being on the team, and she talked animatedly about it for what seemed like hours.  Lily just smiled and nodded after about 15 minutes of lecturing about the wonders of a seeker.  Soon the train skidded to a halt and the two girls rushed out of their compartment, and once again smelled the after-effects of the dungbombs.

"Stupid boys." they said.

They then headed towards the front of the gate, and stood behind two boys about their age, and thought they could only see the backs of their heads, they began to talk anyway.

"What's going on?" Lily asked.

"We're getting off the train, duh." the boy on the right replied.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me, woman"

"How rude! You almost sound like… "

"At your service." the boy said.

"Oh my.." came Lily's response.

"Wait.…" added Jade, and then pointed to the boy next to him. "Then that means…"

"Pleasure." answered the other boy.

James and Sirius turned around with a glint in their eyes.

"OH BLOODY HELL!" screamed the two girls. 


	4. AsSORTments and Such with Houses and wit...

You know this fanfiction business is pretty cool.  I'm sorry if this story doesn't live up to standards and whatnot.  This is my first story I've ever written.  Usually I just write nonsense about useless things, but I'm putting a lot of work into this, and hopefully it turns out decent. 

**DISCLAIMER: I own all except the Harry Potter characters.  With the plots and whatnot that will occur, if it happens to be similar to some of your stories, then I assure you it's purely coincidental,  for most of this story so far is off the top of my head.**

Chapter 4: Assortments and Such

_"Now remember James, be good and do well in school.  Being a Potter, I expect you to get the best grades in school just like your father and I have.  Nothing short of excellent do you understand me?" chided Mrs. Potter._

_"Yes, Mum.  I understand completely." reassured James_

_"And son, remember that one of the most important things to do at school is to make the closest of friends.  Whoever you choose, make sure they are important to you, and that they STAY important.  Do not betray them… it will be like betraying your mother as well as myself." said his Dad._

_"Sure thing, Dadd-o."_

_"And don't forget, have a little fun when you're up there.  Live life.  Don't push TOO HARD  on your grades."  
"Harold!"_

_"Ok ok, so grades are definitely important, but make sure you just enjoy yourself!!"_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

James repeated his parents' speech in his head as he walked off the train, trying to ignore the mumblings of a certain redhead trailing behind him.

"Firs'years over here please.  Firs' years here!!!" yelled a giant man.

Lily and Jade looked at him with awe.  "HE'S HUGE!!!" exclaimed Jade, mouth wide open.

"Dude James, that guy is huge!" repeated Sirius, not hearing Jade's remark behind him. He then walked up to the immense figure and tapped him on the arm, for that was all Sirius could reach up to.

"Excuse me sir, but have you noticed how incredibly big you are? I mean, you're huge!!"

He chuckled. "Well actually I'm Hagrid, Gamekeeper of Hogwarts. Pleased to meet ya.  An' ya are?"

"Sirius Black.  This porcupine next to me is James Potter.  Firetruck girl over there is Lily Evans, and the girl with the black hole under her nose is Jade Chapman."

Jade then slapped Sirius in the back and shut her mouth, while all James and Lily did was glare at him menacingly.  

"See look at those two and their faces.  They read each other's mind. Oh my, aren't they just PERFECT for each other??" teased Sirius.

James just walked off while Lily turned redder than her hair.  All Hagrid did was chuckle again saying, "Why of course!"  

James couldn't wait to get started with this Hogwarts business.  Ever since he heard about it from his father, he waited daily for his letter to come, and when it did… he was very happyl.  He dragged his parents to Diagon Alley right away, and made sure to himself promising that he fulfilled both of his parents' wishes: Get good grades and Have tons of fun.  With Sirius by his side, and with his natural ability and talents, he was well on his way.

"Good evening. I am Professor McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts as well as Head of the Gryffindor Household.  Follow me please to the Great Hall where we will begin your sorting.

Murmurs rang through every little mouth as everyone wondered how they were going to get sorted.  Rumors were flying all around, saying that they sorted first years by being able to fight trolls.  Another one was that they had to duel with the headmaster himself, Professor Dumbledore, and if they lasted at least a minute, then they would be accepted.  Lily, being a muggle-born, was completely frightened by these rumors and turned into a palish color.  

"Lily, don't worry, I'm sure it can't be that bad.  My parents never told me, but from the looks on their faces, I'm sure it has nothing to do with any of that nonsense." Jade tried comforting her friend but all she could get from Lily was a slight "Heh." As they followed Professor McGonagall into the Great Hall, each of them were amazed at their surroundings.  The ceiling was enchanted to look like the weather outside, which was beautiful and clear.  Many older students were already sitting at four huge tables set up in the middle of the Great Hall.  The Professors were seated at the very front of the Hall, with Dumbledore in the very middle, looking as happy as the dwarf in that Muggle cartoon movie.  Suddenly, Professor McGonagall came to a halt.

"Hogwarts' students are to be sorted into four different houses.  These four are Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin.  When sorted, you will spend your entire educational career with your House.  You will also be able to add points to your house by succeeding in your studies.  However, you may also be deducted points for misbehavior."

With this statement, James and Sirius grinned.

"Each house will sum up points leading to the end of the year, and the House with the most points will be honored with the House Cup at the Feast.  It is a great honor, and I am sure each of you will make your Houses, as well as yourselves proud.  After the opening song, when I call your name, please sit on the stool and place the hat on your head.  You will then be sorted into your House as well as sit with them for the dinner this evening.

 Jade was suddenly caught off guard.. 

"A hat?!?! That's it? I thought it was going to be a bit more tough than this."

"What song are they supposed to sing, Jade?" said Lily. She let out a deep breath and regained her normal color once she found out the news of the Sorting Hat.

Lily's answer came when a loud and somewhat obnoxious voice echoed through the Great Hall.  It came from none other than the hat itself, as it sang a song about the four houses of Hogwarts.  James and Sirius were easily amused, and couldn't stop laughing, that is, until they saw the stern and firm look on Professor McGonagall's face.  They managed to compose themselves until the hat belted its last note.  

"Once again, when I call your name, please step forward, and sit on the stool with the hat and wait patiently to be sorted.  Agdaw, Ryan!!!"

A small boy stepped up to the stool and placed the hat on.  After a couple of seconds, the hat shouted, "RAVENCLAW!!" and he ran towards the far right side of the Hall towards the Ravenclaw table.

"Avery, Steven!"

A stern bulky (not to mention ugly) boy sat down.  The hat barely touched his head before shouting "SLYTHERIN!" and he joined the group on the far left.

"Baghdad, Iris!"……."HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Bertman, Joseph!"….. "GRIFFINDOR!!"

"Black, Sirius!" …… "GRYFFINDOR!"  Sirius bounded down towards the Gryffindor table, anticipating the sorting for the rest of his friends.

"Casey, Benjamin! ….. "SLYTHERIN!"

"Chapman, Jade!"

Jade slowly strode on to the stool and placed the hat on her head.  It took a minute before saying, "GRYIFFINDOR!" and she happily sat on the table clapping its loudest for her.

The list went on until it came upon Lily.

"Evans, Lily!"  She stepped up and placed the hat on her head.  For a while, the hat didn't move.  She was beginning to be frightened.  Then all of a sudden it shouted "GRYFFINDOR!" and with a smile on her face, she seated herself next to Jade.

Once again, the list went further down until it rested on a certain "Potter, James!"

James shoved the hat on his head and sat there, for a minute.  Then for two.  Then for three.  Lily, Jade, and Sirius were beginning to wonder if the hat malfunctioned.  Lily however noticed that James was muttering something under his breath.  It seemed like he was having a conversation.  _With a hat?? Impossible.  Though it does talk, and it sang that awful song.  I wouldn't be surprised.'_ After a couple more seconds the hat shouted "GRYFFINDOR!" and James sat alongside Sirius.  They sat across from the two girls, so that they would have more than one person to converse with.  All four of them decided that they should tolerate the other two for now.  After the entire list was finished, Professor Dumbledore stood up and all he said was… "Shower!" and that's exactly what happened.  The empty plates and goblets were soon showered on with food and drinks galore… and the quartet happily stuffed themselves to whatever they could find, filling their plates quickly.  In the middle of dinner, a shy boy entered the Hall and James noticed this.  He had sandy-brown hair, and looked rather pale for an 11-year old.  He was soon making his way over to James, because he was the only one looking at him.  _Maybe he'll be my friend,_ the boy thought.  

"Hey what's up man, I'm James."  
"Remus Lupin. Pleasure."

Sirius spun around.  "Pleasure?? Well I'm Sirius Black!"

Remus smiled a little and asked, "Umm d-d-do you mind if I sit here?  I came late, and Professor Dumbledore said that I was sorted into Gryffindor.  He says I'd do well here."

"Sure thing, Remus.  Here, I guess we kind of involuntarily saved you a spot anyway!" said James as he scooted to make more space for him.  There was already a gap next to James because the girl next to him was practically on the guys' lap that sat next to her  Remus was definitely surprised at the reaction from the two boys and sat down with them.  The three conversed with each other all night long and all three knew that for some reason, they would form a very strong bond together.  They became fast friends, and it almost seemed as if James, Sirius and Remus, knew each other for a hundred years, the way they were talking.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The feast ended and with a final word from Dumbledore, the House Prefects led their respective students towards the dormitories.  Lily and Jade interlocked arms so that they wouldn't be separated, and strolled along, following their fellow housemates.  Jade spotted a young girl, about their age, who seemed like she was lost.  She pulled Lily along with her and went up to the girl.  "Umm are you lost?"

"Why, y-yes of course.  I'm sorry, where are the Gryffindors heading?"

"Well follow us! We're your trusty housemates!" exclaimed Lily.

With a smile, the girl followed the two girls towards the dormitories.

"My name is Carly.  Carly Atwater."

"Hi I'm Lily, and this is my best pal Jade." Each of them took turns shaking hands, and even Lily and Jade decided to shake each other's hands again, causing Carly to laugh.  Jade offered her other arm to Carly, and she happily agreed, and the three walked along together talking merrily.  As they reached the Gryffindor Tower, they were in deep conversation, and as the Prefect shouted the password "friar-cakes", the three girls reached their rooms and followed each other up the steps to the first-year girls' dormitories.  Lily, Jade, and Carly soon found out that they were to be rooming with two other girls as well.  One was Alice Clearman, a short brown-haired girl.  The other girl was a blonde-haired beauty named Penelope Hunsworth.  She, however, would like to be reffered to as just plain 'Penny'.  The five girls, after unpacking spent the rest of the night conversing and bonding together, for they would be with each other for the next seven years.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

James, Sirius, and Remus went into the boys' dormitory laughing uncontrollably at Sirius' attempt to try and make his hair identical to James.  James was laughing so hard causing his hair ruffled even more, and Sirius soon gave up. The three then became acquainted with their fellow roommates.  One was Frank Longbottom, a brown-haired boy with eyes to match.  Another was a short, stubby, blonde-haired boy named Peter Pettigrew.  The five instantly became friends, and each felt a strong bond towards one another, and realized that it was this bond that would get them through anything and everything Hogwarts would throw their way.  

Well being the mischievous trio.. James, Sirius, and Remus decided to pull their very first prank of their Hogwarts days.  They decided to start off their new year as well as their new friendship with a bang.  Each of them wanted everyone to know that not that James Potter, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin are around, things will bound to be interesting from here on out.   Who would be the perfect targets for these three to unleash their mischief upon, you may ask?  Well none other than Lily, Jade, and company of course!  Remus taught them a couple of harmless, but embarrassing hexes, and in the middle of the night, they slowly crept to the girls' dorm and the full-proof plan went into action.  James found Lily and dyed her hair purple, with a green highlight.  Sirius ran over to Jade's quarters, and muttered a charm that made one of her legs shorter than the other.  Remus, though at first astonished by Carly's innocent look, followed through anyway and tangled her fingers together in an awkward fashion.  With great stealth, the three crept back towards the door, and James whispered a charm so that the hexes would not take effect until two hours after they all woke up.  That would be so Alice and Penny couldn't see at first, and that they would be well into breakfast by then, so the whole school would be able to see their wondrous creation of their fellow Gryffindor gals.  

"Boy are they going to have a fit when they find out!" whispered Sirius as they walked back towards their room.  

James then imagined the horrendous look on Lily's face.  "Yeah….. uhh.. maybe this wasn't such a good idea."

"Looks like Jamesy-boy is scared of a certain flower, eh Sirius?" teased Remus. 

"Remus, you are a genius! Another nickname for our dear friend Potter!" said Sirius after noticing a scowl on his friend's face.

"Oh, and by the way," mentioned Remus, "thanks a lot, both of you, for letting me join.  I've never really had friends before and I'm just glad that I'm accepted by my dorm mates at least."

James smiled remembering his father's words. "Anytime Remus.  The three of us are the best of friends already and it's only the first day!! I am honored to be friends with you and dummy-head over here.  We're going to be something special, I can feel it.  The three of us, we're inseparable."

Remus laughed as Sirius just smiled, both taking in James' words to heart.


	5. First is Definitely Not the Worst

DISCLAIMER: AGAIN ONE MORE TIME…. THIS IS THE LAST TIME.  ANY OTHER CHAPTERS UPDATED AFTER THIS WILL BE THE SAME THING, SO JUST REFER BACK TO HERE IF YOU ARE STILL CURIOUS…. ALL FAMILIAR HARRY POTTER CHARACTERS (JAMES, SIRIUS, REMUS, LILY, SNAPE, ETC.) BELONG TO JK ROWLING.  EVERYONE ELSE (JADE, PENNY, CARLY, ETC.) BELONG TO ME.  THE PLOT BELONGS TO ME.  IF IT IS SIMILAR TO OTHER PLOTS, MY APOLOGIES, IT IS PURELY COINCIDENTAL. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the sunlight began to creep through the windows of the Gryffindor girls' dorm, Lily stirred a little, waking up from a dreamless sleep.  It only felt like five minutes, but Lily and her newfound friends slept for seven hours.  The time was now six in the morning, and Lily was used to waking up early.  After stretching and a couple of soft yawns, to not wake anyone else up, Lily slipped on her bunny slippers and headed to the bathroom to wash up.  She took a shower to wake up more and feel refreshed for her first day of class in Hogwarts.  She was excited, and when she stepped out of the bathroom, her friends were also wide awake smiling at her, eager for class as well.  They each waited for each other and after they all were fully dressed in their Hogwarts robes, they walked off together for breakfast.  

James, Remus, and Sirius woke up earlier than the rest, and whispered to the half-asleep Peter and Frank all about their little prank last night on the girls.  As soon as they heard this, they shot up out of bed and joined the three to breakfast in the Great Hall.  There they saw Lily, Jade, Carly, and Penny.  James looked at his watch, anticipating the time when the hexes would take effect.  It was now 8:58, and there were two minutes till complete chaos for Lily, Jade, and Carly.  

"What time is it James?? Is it time yet? Come on!!!" screamed Sirius.  He was really excited and bouncing up and down on the seat.

"Just wait, Sirius, about a minute or two." answered James.

"Uhh… I hope that Carly doesn't get too mad." said Remus. He was watching Carly butter her toast.

"Oh don't be such a spoil sport, Remi," said Sirius.  "After all, it was YOUR idea."

"No it wasn't!! It was you and James's idea to actually pull the prank!

"Ah yes, Remus, but it was YOUR hexes that we used.  If it wasn't for you, none of this wouldn't happen…. wait!!! Here we go!!!

The three boys looked at the watch as there were mere seconds away from breaking down into a riotous laughter.

"3……..2………1………"

"OH MY GOD LILY, WHAT DID YOU DO TO YOUR HAIR?!?!?" shouted Penny.

Lily was confused.  She set it up neatly in a bun back at the dormitories, so she just gave Penny a funny look.  "I have no idea what you are babbling about, Penny."

"Ummm… Lily… she's not babbling.  LOOK." said Jade, handing Lily her little mirror.  

Lily was astonished at what she saw.  Her beautiful red hair was now a shade of purple, and what made Lily's eyes almost drop out of their sockets were the green highlights clashing here and there along with the purple color.  She knew exactly what was up.

"JAMES POTTER!!!!!!!! YOU IDIOTIC GIT… CHANGE MY HAIR BACK NOW!!"

James was putting on a sweet innocent face, but Lily could see right through it.  Plus, the fact that Sirius was roaring with laughter, along with the rest of the table gave it away.  Soon they heard another shriek.

"Hey!! My fingers!!!! What happened?!?!?!" Carly was currently trying to pick up her toast, but only succeeded in pushing it around her plate.

"POTTER!!!"

"What! That wasn't me, Evans."

Remus, who was putting on the best fake face of the three, looked at Carly who was fuming.  Both of them looked at each other, and with a mischievous grin, Remus burst out laughing spitting out crumbs…. and also blowing his cover.

"Ahahahahhaha.  Carly you should see your face.  So much concentration in just picking up toast!"

"Remus Lupin!!! Oooooo… I knew it!!!" shouted Carly.

Lily in the meantime was slapping James repeatedly on the shoulder, screaming into his ear.  

"See look at what you are doing!!!! Carly can't eat now, and I look like an eggplant!!! You are putting a bad influence on Remus, and he's not even younger than you are!!"

"Actually, Evans, Remus is about… three months younger."

"Potter!!!!! That's not what I meant!"

"I know Evans, now keep it down.  With your hair-style, I don't think you want anyone else looking at you."  Lily shut up as well as looked up, but it was too late.  Everyone in the Great Hall were either staring at her strangely, or clutching their stomachs in laughter at her and Carly, who was just as red as Lily was at the moment.

"Well I thought it was rather funny, girls.  I'm sure they were all in good fun." mentioned Jade.  She didn't know what happened to her, yet.

"Oh shut it, Jade!" Lily snapped.

"Yeah!! I bet they did something to you too!" replied Carly.

"Well my hair is perfectly fine, and look, I can successfully butter and eat my breakfast, so there."  

"Shut up, Jade." They chorused.

"Fine, if you are going to give me that type of attitude, I'm just going to head back to the Tower, thank you very much!"Jade then stood up to leave, but failed miserably. With her first step, she stumbled over towards the table and fell flat on her face, landing onto her breakfast.  She angrily wiped the mess off her face, and looked down at her now uneven legs. She then took away the attention from Lily and Carly for a bit, screaming….  

"SIRIUS BLACK!!!!!!! YOU BASTARD!!!!!!!!"

Sirius stopped laughing momentarily and gave her a wide grin… then continued laughing with everyone else.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The talk of the breakfast was, of course, the first successful prank of James, Sirius, and Remus.  The girls, however, were the only ones not pleased, as they spent the rest of breakfast glaring at the three boys.  Penny and Alice, who were giggling for a bit, soon joined the other three with their utter dislike.  After all, they were their friends.  Their schedules were passed out to them at the end of breakfast, and currently, the Gryffindors were on their way towards Transfiguration, with Professor McGonagall.  Everyone was still talking about the prank, and James, Sirus, and Remus agreed to change the three girls back to normal, much to the girls' relief.  As soon as they walked into the classroom, Professor McGonagall immediately walked up to James, Sirius, and Remus in an intimidating fashion.

"You three, I noticed that you were the cause of the ruckus this morning at breakfast?"

"Us?? Why would you think it's us?" questioned Remus.

"Because Miss Evans, Miss Atwater, and Miss Chapman are both shooting death glares at you, ready to kill."

"Oh…. uhhh…"

"Well, well, I take it that you three enjoyed the after-effects of your first prank, Mr. Black?"

"Absolutely!" Sirius stupidly answered.

"And I'm sure you'll enjoy the punishment as well… detention tonight, 7 pm in my office.  Oh, and I 'do' believe that is your… how do you say… FIRST detention as well. Do I make myself clear, boys?"

"Yes, Professor" came all three voices.

"Very well, to your seats.  Class will begin shortly."

James and Sirius sat on their own table, while Remus took a seat next to Peter behind them.  The three boys noticed the smirks on the girls' faces after their issuing of their detention.  

"Oh, bugger off." was all that James said.  

Lily was very pleased with their punishment, just as Jade and Carly were.  Their classes turned out fairly well.  In Transfiguration, when James wasn't being scolded by Professor McGonagall, he did superb in their first lesson.  James successfully transfigured a quill into a needle. Sirius and Remus did it on their second of third try.  Lily, however, could barely even make the quill turn silver.  She was disappointed in herself, and James' arrogance towards her made her even more mad.  Jade and Carly kindly helped her out and she got it by the end of class, but she was still mad about it and promised herself she'd do better next class. 

James and his two pals were smiling on their way to their next class: Charms.  As they took their seats, he saw the look of worry on Lily's face and he began to feel a little guilty with his attitude towards her last class.  He didn't want her to think low of herself, and he was making up his mind to apologize at the end of class.  This thought, however was suddenly banished from his head when they were trying out their first charm assignment.

"Class." said Professor Flitwick. "Your assignment today is to levitate your quills using the proper enchantment. Repeat after me please…. '_Wingardium Leviosa_'."

"_Wingardium Leviosa_."

"Very good, now please carry on with the assignment.  I'll be walking around to check on your progress."

James figured it'd be cinch since they were using quills again for the assignment.  After all, he was a Potter, and he always had a natural talent for everything he did. However, transfiguring a quill and charming a quill are two completely different things.  He couldn't even get the quill to move from the bloody table.  Once he thought he got it to roll over, but it was just the effect from Sirius's fist when he pounded the table.  He was having a little trouble as well.  James looked across the class to find Lily Evans levitating her quill with perfection.  Professor Flitwick marveled at Lily's success and James scowled. _She'll probably rub it in my face after class. _he thought.  Sure enough, after class, Lily came up to James with a huge smile plastered on her face.

"Can this be?? Has James Potter finally met his match?? Charms, my dear, just so happens to be my wand's specialty. It must feel awkward to finally be beaten, huh.  By a girl, too! Not just any, girl either… Who you say? Hmm, could you possibly tell me who, Potter?"

"You…" he muttered angrily.

Lily laughed again.  "Hope this sticks into your head, Mr. Potter… there's a first time for everything." And with that she skipped off with her friends, while James punched Sirius and Remus in their shoulders after hearing their quiet snickers.

History of Magic was next, and well…. it's just like any other history class.  Booooooriiiing.  Almost everyone in the class fell asleep.  Even Lily managed to doze off once in a while.  Still, they were a bit surprised in the beginning of class, because it was the first time ever that Hogwarts had a ghost teaching a subject.  Professor Binns, however, wasn't very entertaining, much less scary.  The only thing creepy about him was his monotonous voice droning along continously for the entire period, while the class desperately tried to stay awake and take notes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At dinner, everyone was exhausted and very happy to be out of classes for the day.

"That Binns sure is boring." said Penny, with Carly with a nod of her head.

"Yeah, I mean, you'd think he'd be more interesting, being a ghost and all."

"Well, at least there was ONE thing interesting about today, Carly."

"What's that?"

"The constant flirting of James and Lily, that's what." Penny and Carly laughed while Alice choked on her juice from trying not to laugh.

"Hey!! It's more like constant bickering, that's what it is." corrected Lily.

Penny grinned. "Sure, Lily… hey by the way. Did you take notes in Binns' class?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Good, can I copy them?  I don't even remember being in there. Guess I was asleep."

"Oh fine, but I'm not doing this all the time."

"Thanks."

"Umm, Lily??"

"What is it, Jade?"

"Can I borrow them after, too?"

"Me too!" chimed in Carly.

"Hey!!!!!" was all that Lily could say.

The girls all went back to the Tower to start on their homework.  Each girl diligently worked for an hour straight, until something… or actually certain 'someones' interrupted them.

"What do you want, Potter. Shouldn't you be at detention?" 

"Nah, we just got back actually.  I was just seeing if I could borrow your history notes."

"What?!?! Did anyone stay awake in that class?!"

"I did!!" said Sirius.

Everyone dropped their quills.  "Sirus?!?! YOU?!?!?!"

"Well, no, but I just wanted to see what everyone would do if I said I did.  Sorry."

Jade threw her quill at him.

"Thanks a bunch, Jade!! Mine's kinda worn down. You're a life saver."

"Hey give that back!!!"

"Nah… why don't come over here and make me, or is your ruler not accurate from measuring the length of your legs."

"Ooooooo Sirius, don't' push me."

"I'm not pushing… I'm just merely borrowing your quill."

"That's it!! I'm going to knock your face from here to Hogsmeade!"

"Ouch.  That would hurt, but….can I still borrow your quill?"

"NO!!!" Jade chased Sirius around the room, while Sirius was running circles around her, obviously enjoying himself with Jade in a wild pursuit.  Remus and Carly were helping each other with the levitating charm in the corner, smiling and laughing together.  Lily and James then turned to each other.

"Well, Potter, it looks like our friends are actually getting along for once… well in different ways." said Lily after glancing at the Jade still chasing Sirius. "Think that'll happen to us?"

"What do you think, Evans?"

"Not a chance"

"Finally, I agree with you."

"Well, that's a first."

"Indeed."

 "I think Jade is rather taken with Sirius, though."

"Oh really… and what about you Lily-kins? Are you taken with someone too?"

"No.. .and don't call me Lily-kins."

"Sure thing, Lily-Willy."

"POTTER!"

"Ok ok."

"That's more like it… you don't want me 'levitating' you back to detention, would you?" Lily snickered.

"Not really.  Oh, and speaking of that, I wanted to apologize for my attitude towards you in transfiguration today.  I didn't realize that it was your first time ever trying magic, and I didn't want to make you feel put down."

Lily was caught off guard and though that he was just joking again, but one look into his eyes, and she knew he was being serious.  "It's ok, Potter… but please, don't give me any pity just because I'm a muggle-born.  I'll get the hang of things around here, and soon I will be just as good as… well you."

"Was that a compliment, Evans, or a challenge?"

"Let's just say it's both."

"We'll see about that."

"We most certainly will."  James began walking back towards the other side of the room when Lily said,

"Hey Potter… did you just actually act civil towards me for once in your life? Apologizing is a big step in sincerity, hope it didn't hurt your head too much."

James laughed. "Well, Evans, someone very wise once told me…………….. that there's a first time for everything."

With a wink and a grin, James turned around to start on his work, while Lily smiled and continued with hers, ducking as Sirius jumped over with Jade following closely behind him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Gryffindor Schedule – 1st Years**

**Monday – Transfiguration, Charms, History of Magic**

**Tuesday – Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts**

**Wednesday – Transfiguration, Charms, History of Magic**

**Thursday – Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts**

**Friday – Double Herbology, Flying**

**_(just in case you were wondering… hehe.  Stay tuned!)_**


	6. Just Another Day In Paradise

Thanks to all the reviews and the people behind the screen that took the time to type them out!! Appreciate it muchos.  Anyway, back to the story…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Life at Hogwarts soon got into full gear.  For the past two months, students all over the castle hustled in and out of classrooms and towers, working hard on their studies, and all the while making new friendships, rekindling old ones, and sparking hidden feelings (for the older students anyway).  However, the first years were busy just enjoying themselves while they were still young.  Lily excelled in every single one of her classes, earning top marks in Charms, Herbology, and History of Magic (this due to the fact that she was the only one that stayed awake).  The lowest marks she got were in Transfiguration.  Don't get her wrong, she was a mere second place, but her marks compared to that of James Potter could not even compare.  James also excelled in every class.  He even managed to do well in Charms for the most part, but not as well as Lily, for she far exceeded anyone's ability in that subject so much that they questioned whether she knew more than Professor Flitwick.  She would never let this get to her head though, and admired Professor Flitwick as much as he admired her.  A sense of mutual respect, I must say.  James was proud of himself, but in a sense a little disappointed that he didn't get top marks in all his classes.  He feared that he would let his family down, but the ecstatic letter from his mother and father erases those thoughts write away.  Lily's dorm mates were doing fairly well in every subject, evening all their subjects out to excellent marks, as well as James' mates as well.  James, Sirius and Remus soon were noticed among all students and professors alike.  Prank after prank they pulled, faithfully going to every detention every time they got caught, and always in the mood for a good laugh or two.  Their main targets were Slytherins, particularly two slimy gits named Severus Snape and Lucius Malfoy.  For some reason, it was those two that usually ended up on the other side of a prank from James, Sirius and/or Remus.  However, they did get in their small pranks to Lily, Jade, Carly, Penny, and Alice.  The girls didn't take the boys lightly and yelled at them every chance they had gotten.  Even Frank and Peter got in a bit on the pranks when the could.  Peter was still a little shy, and Frank was always with Alice. * wink wink*

One thing was noticed throughout the span of two months, Remus seemed to have disappeared twice, and James and Sirius were the first to realize it.  His excuse was that his mother was sick and he went to go visit, but the tone in Remus' voice had James and Sirius wondering whether he was telling the truth or not.  Faithful as friends, however, they decided not to push on the subject, and concentrate more on causing havoc on the grounds of Hogwarts.  It was now Halloween, and classes were cut short in spite of the big feast later on in the evening.  With that, the Gryffindor first years decided to go outside and explore the outer portions of Hogwarts.

"Potter, for once, you and your cronies managed to have a sensible idea." pointed Lily.

"It's because of our ingenius." said James

"Our intuition." added Remus.

"And of course, our charm." finished Sirius.

"Oh don't flatter yourselves, boys." Jade retorted.  

Frank decided to join in on the fun.  "Well some of us are charming, ain't that write Alice?" and added a wink.

Alice blushed but answered, "Riiiiight, Frankie, right."

"OOOO so now it's Frankie, eh Ally…" mentioned Penny.

"Frankie and Ally, how cuuuuute!" chimed in Jade and Carly, with fluttering eyes.  Everyone laughed at this while the Frank and Alice blushed furiously, causing even more laughter.

"Hey Remus, so is your mom feeling better?"

"Y-y-y-yeah Pete, she's doing well. I'm glad that I got to visit her last week."

James and Sirius looked at each other, but shrugged their shoulders and walked along.  They came upon this hill near the lake, and decided to name it the Lion's Heart, after their mascot, the Gryffindor Lion.  They added that this hill would be theirs and theirs only, and marked it with their initial on a nearby tree.  Jade was observing Lily write her name under James', and said,

"Look guys!!! Look at this!" Lily was confused and the ten crowded around as she put one hand over 'James and the other over 'Evans'.

"Oh my gosh, it's like music to the ears!!! Lily Potter. Wooow." Sirius decided to say, and earned a sandwich whack from James and Lily.  The others just shook their heads, all agreeing in their minds that it did in fact look good together.

"You know, it's only been two months, and I'm already having the time of my life.  It's all thanks to you guys.  Yes, all of you, even you boys." Carly decided to say.  Carly was also a muggle-born, and somewhat shy, but nonetheless felt right at home when crowded around her dear friends, especially around Remus.  She felt she related more to him than to even the girls.  He was so nice and sweet, and always left an open ear for her to talk about stuff.  In fact, it was well known that Remus and Carly grew a liking to each other, but were just too afraid to admit it, and plus the fact that they were only eleven.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the day gave into the night, they went back for the Great Feast, and was greeted by enormous amounts of food.  James and Sirius decided to have a contest, and pigged out on whatever they could find.  Those around the two were watching these two characters duke it out, while the girls just simply walked away from the scene claiming that it was too disgusting to bear witness to.  It turns out, that both of them gave up at around the same time, and ended in a tie.  Everyone then went back to the Tower and hung out in the common room.  It was here when the talk of quidditch began to rise.

"I'm going to be on the team next year." said James. "I've been flying all my life, and I can't wait to try-out."

"Me too!" said Sirius and Jade together.  They looked at each other.

"You?!?!" They both said again.  Remus chuckled at how similar these two people in front of him were, despite their different…. opinions…. of each other.  

"Well good luck to the both of you.  I, however will just remain on the stands thank you very much." said Lily.  The others agreed.

"Well that's for sure Evans, considering what happened our past flying lesson."

"Hey!!!"

"What are you going to tell me, that it just so happened the ground came flying up at you." mocked James.

"Well, it was scary from so high up."

"Lily…" said Jade.  "You were only seven feet away from the ground, plus you are supposed to look forward, not down."

"I know… maybe I'm just not meant to fly."

"Don't say that Lils, I mean you can't be good at everything."

"Yeah right, Penny, look at wonder-boy over there." She pointed towards James.  "He does things well without even trying."

"He's a Potter." replied Sirius.  "I've been close with his family.  If you think James is amazing, you should see his parents."

"I-I'm not all that great, guys." James replied shyly.  

"What?!?! Are you kidding… you got the highest grade in Transfiguration in over a century!"

"And what do you call your Charms grade??"

"Oh……. yeah……." 

"Exactly."

"As I was saying," interrupted Sirius.  "His parents were extremely gifted.  They still are actually.   His dad was a shoe-in for professional quidditch, but decided on becoming an Auror instead, and a great one too. His mom is one of the best Healers in St. Mungo's.  Both intelligent and dedicated. It's not surprising that James happens to be good at everything."

"I'M NOT GOOD AT EVERYTHING!"

"Ok ok, good at 'some' things then."

"Yeah.  We all have our own gifts, it's just a matter of finding it.  Sure I've come to find mine early, but I'm sure we'll find ours in time.  Don't worry about who's better and who's not.  Just remember that we're all here for the same reason, and that's just to have fun!!"

"No, you dope, we're here to get an education." Lily answered.  She scolded James and after his quick apology, she then started letting his words sink in.  James definitely knew how to conjure up the right things to say.  She could tell because everyone was very attentive during his little speech.  She even saw Peter look at him in admiration.  Though she'd never admit it, James was very good with words, and very charming.  She soon drove these thoughts out of her mind.

"Well, I'm gonna get started on my assignments, everyone.  Happy Halloween!!!"

Everyone glanced at each other, and Jade even muttered, "Crazy." before following her  and the girls followed her back to the Tower.  Frank and Alice decided to play chess for a bit and went to go get the game pieces.  So that leaves us with James, Sirius, and Remus.  

"Guys… it's Halloween."

"What's that got to do with anything, Sirius?"

"You know James, don't you?  Right?"

James shook his head

"Remus?!"

"No clue, pal."

"Oh bugger, let's go explore this castle!!!"

"Exploring the castle?? Ohhhh exploring the castle!! Yeah let's go boys!! To the hallways!" said James.

"TO THE HALLWAYS!" shouted all three of them, which gave them awkward looks from everyone else in the common room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The three boys sneaked out of the common room, and explored the castle.  They practically knew the place already, but decided to just explore some more, looking for great hiding places, and possibly, even secret passageways.  

"Shhhh.. watch out guys!! Filch is coming!" whispered Remus.  They waited for about two minutes, and sure enough, there was Filch coming down the corridors with Mrs. Norris as his company.  The local castle caretaker is one to not ever cross paths with.  He seemed to dislike everyone, except for maybe Dumbledore, but hey, who in their right mind would possibly hate the great wizard?? They either feared or respected him.  Most of the time both.  Anyway, as soon as Filch and Mrs. Norris were out of view, the trio emerged from their hiding spot, breathing heavily.

"Wow, Remus, how'd you hear him?? He must've been at least two hallways down before he showed up here.  You know, it's almost as if you have the senses of a….."

"Just a hunch, guys, no biggie.  Let's continue!" interrupted Remus.  He didn't' want to get any further with the subject.

As they were walking, Sirius came across a picture deep in the dark of the corridor near the Astronomy Tower.  He was feeling rather hungry this time, and with the pictures moving and all, he began to get curious.

"Hey James."

"What's up"

"You know how the pictures can move and stuff?"

"Uhh yeah"

"What about the food?"

"Hmm… you know that's a good question, do you know Remus?"  
Remus chuckled.  "Nope, not that I know of."

Sirius then began to reach for the fruitbowl in the picture.  When he came across a pair, he began to rub it with his hand.  All of a sudden, he saw the picture move.  This wasn't what surprised them however.  A passage soon opened up revealing little midgets running around with pots and pans, dressed in dirty rags.

"House-elves… wonder what they're doing." James thought.

The three boys went inside and soon were run into buy one of the elves.

"Goodness, I am so sorry!! Fanny did not see you.  Fanny will sure look where she is going at all costs.  Umm, may Fanny ask why you are here?

"We kinda just found the place.  Fanny, huh…. I'm James Potter."

"Sirius Black."

"R-Remus L-Lupin." Remus has never seen a house-elf before, him being… secluded from everything.

"Ah yes, hello young wizards.  My name is Fanny, and this is the Hogwarts kitchen!!!

The three boys stared at it wide-eyed, seeing the absolute wonder they had just discovered.

"Wow, the kitchen!! So you guys make the food."

"Why, yes, Mr. Potter.  Do you and your friends like the food?"

"OF COURSE!!"

"Then Fanny and the others will make more for you!!! As a special thanks for visiting us, we are honored to be at your service, Mr. Potter, Mr. Black, and Mr. Lalupin.

"No, no, it's Lupin.  I just stuttered is all."

"Oh!! I'm so sorry Mr. Lupin!!!" Fanny then began to bang his head with his hands, and Remus stopped him.  _These house-elves are kinda weird… but they make good food! _

James, Sirius, and Remus ended up having one of the best Halloweens of their lives.  They, together, teamed up to find the best room in all of Hogwarts… for now anyway.  They discussed within themselves that if they found a place like this, there's no telling what other passages they'll be able to find.  The house-elves were more than happy to be serving three students, and brought everything that the three requested.  After another stuffing meal, the trio then headed back towards the tower.  They didn't' make it back without getting caught… Filch spotted them.  They, however, could care less.  Any detention is worth it after you've had a meal like they had.  They returned to the Gryffindor Tower, only to find Lily and the girls still working on their homework.  They headed back up to their rooms, ignoring the chides from them and went into their dorm, agreeing to themselves to do their homework later, and plan more of these late-night wanderings around the castle.  They all fell asleep, content with everything, and eager for another day in what those three liked to call…..

paradise.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**I'm so sorry…. this chapter isn't really all that great, yeah?? Oh well, just thought I'd add another chapter in for the day.  Hopefully it turns out well.  No plot really in this, it's just the characters cruising in school and all.  Don't worry, though.  I have some things in store, and I hope they turn out alright.  Thanks for reading this far haha.  Peace everyone.**   


	7. Quidditch Time

**~Angi**: Everyone this is my new friend!! Haha she's great.  Reviewing and complimenting my story… I am grateful for people like her.  I'm staying up just a bit more to write one more chapter for you… hope you like it!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Since the 'day of paradise', which is what James and his friends called it, all attention and hype belonged to the upcoming quidditch match.  It would be the first match of the year, and it would involve the teams of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw.   The two teams trained extremely hard for the past couple of months.  Ravenclaw even managed a practice on Halloween, when everyone else was busy eating away at the Great Hall.  It was known that Ravenclaw was a very very good team.  Known for being intelligent, these players were notorious for their brilliant strategies that they executed with great perfection.  Their practices were long and vigorous and their eyes were set on the House Cup this year.

Gryffindor, however, was not nearly as talented as any of the teams this year.  In fact, they considered it as a growing year for their quidditch team.  All of their previous players that were great have now graduated, and the team composed of mostly the reserves from last year.  There were four seventh years on the team.  Isaac Wood, the captain of the team, desperately tried to prepare his team for battle.  He knew in his head that they stood no chance against the great Ravenclaw team, but still, he was a Gryffindor, and true to his House, he as well as his teammates were going to go down fighting.

Anticipation swept through the students' veins as the countdown to game day was now less than two hours away.  The Gryffindors could barely eat, trying frantically to figure out a way to beat the well-trained Ravenclaw team.  There were no pranks being pulled, not even by James, Sirius and Remus.  The three of them being maniacal quidditch fans, were concentrating as well along with Jade. The four of them felt as if they were already on the team, even though no first years were allowed on the team, due to high-potential risks which forced Dumbledore to issue a decree of Hogwarts forbidding all first-years in owning a broom.

"I think that rule is completely bogus.  Sirius and I can wipe the mat off of anyone in this school at any time, at any day. "

"I don't know about that James, you sound a little too confident there."

"Yeah, I know, but still.  We should be able to at least give it a shot.  Remus is an excellent flyer, and the three of us together would make the perfect Chasing team.  Our Jade here would make a very mean Beater.  Her accuracy in slapping Sirius' head is near perfection.  Jade, if I were captain, you would be a shoe-in."

"Thanks, James, but you're not.  So we're just going to have to watch it like everyone else.  And I'm not that good.  Sirius' head is way too big… it's an easy target!"

"Hey, come on now, just because you spend all day studying my beautiful face, doesn't mean you have to mention it to one of my best buds."  He received another slap in the head for this comment.

"Well, anyway, I think that all Gryffindor has to do is…."

"What's all the excitement about?" interrupted Lily.  She just got finished with all of her homework and returned from the library.  

"Quidditch, Evans… care to join?"

"I think I'll just listen, I don't know much about the sport."

"But didn't I tell you all about it on the train?"

"Oh… must've dozed off, heh."

"Well thanks a lot, my best pal!"

"Sorry, Jade, but it just doesn't interest me."

"Well, Evans, that's because you've never seen a real game before.  It's fast, intense, and someone like you should like it.  Maybe we'll get to see your WILD side."

"Only in your dreams, Potter."

"Which happens to be every night, actually.  I hear him mutter your name in his sleep sometimes." mentioned Sirius.  Jade giggled at this.

"I don't say her name!!!"

"Sure, ya don't, pal."

"Whatever."

"Well it's not as bad as Lily.  It's only her name he mutters.  With Lily, she says James' name… and then follows up with 'I do.'" said Jade

"I do not!!"

"See, look she's used to the phrase already."

"Evans, are you having dreams about me?"

"No, I most certainly am not."

"That's not what Carly said." replied Remus.

"What?!?!?! Carly how did you know?!?!?!"

"Know what, Lily?"

"Oh… uhhh…."

"Gotcha."

"Remus Lupin, you are certainly tricky.  I have to watch out for you."

"Hey, what's up with that? If it were me who tricked you, I would have to run for cover."

"Well, Remus is nicer and sweeter than you two."

James scowled.  "Fine, so I'm not as 'sweet'.  It's still unfair."

"Who said life was fair, Potter?"

James and Lily shot glares at each other, with the others looking at the two amusedly.  Suddenly Frank, Alice, Peter, and Penny came bounding towards them.

"What are you guys doing?!?! Everyone's headed to the pitch already! Let's go, if we hurry we can bet good seats."

James, Sirius, Remus, and Jade pushed and shoved each other sprinting out of the portrait hole, with the rest rolling their eyes and following the other four slowly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to the first Quidditch match of the season.  The two teams competing are Gryffindor, and Ravenclaw.  Please take your seats and wait for the players to arrive.  Warm-ups will begin shortly."

The ten Gryffindors each huddled up together in a bunch, taking up a small space of two rows.  Each had their scarlet and gold robes on to show their House spirit, and James and Sirius were bouncing up and down happily.

"Honestly, you two remind me of two-year olds."

"You got that right, Lily.  I love quidditch myself, and you don't see me doing anything crazy."

"Jade, hun, you painted your nails scarlet and gold in an alternating order, not to mention you're the only one to buy a Gryffindor flag out of all of us." said Alice.

"Nope!!! We got one too!!" all five boys said.

"Oh my god. FRANK!

"What?!?!"

"You're acting like a child."

"Sorry Ally. Ummm.. so do you want the flag?"

"Ughhhhhhh!"

They then heard the loud voice again coming from the pitch box.  "Everyone please take your seats, the match will begin in approximately ten minutes."

"That announcer person is boring." said Sirius.

"Yeah, she almost sounds like a teacher.  Ha, what a joke." added James.

"James, she IS a teacher."

James looked up to find the presence of Professor McGonagall in the box.

"Oops.  Don't tell her I said that, alright Remus?"

"No problem.  Besides, all you have to do is transfigure something in class and you'll be under her good graces again."

You're right. Still, I wish we could have a more entertaining announcer."

"Ummm.. well I could do it if you want."

"Pete?!?! You? No offense, but you rarely say anything when you're with us."

"Yes but when it comes to sports, I tend to get a little, crazy."

"Well Pete we're going to have a little talk with our Minnie when we get on the team next year, right Sirius? Remi?"

"Right!"

Soon the players were out on the field warming up by doing laps around the pitch.  The ten saw how good Ravenclaw really was.  Even during a warm-up their flying was flawless.  Even the Slytherins were in awe.  This was cut short however, because of the current burst of laughter from James, Sirius, and Remus.

"What are you two laughing at now?" shouted Carly.

"Look at Snape!!!  He looks like he's drooling with his mouth open like that!" snorted James.

"He better be careful, or the grease in his hair might drip into his mouth." added Sirius.

"Actually I want to see that happen… so that he can choke on it." 

"Honestly, you two are just a bunch of no good gits.  I can't believe I even tolerate you!"

"Evans, are you protecting our pal, Snivellus?"

"Of course not, but you have no right to talk about someone behind their backs."

"Have a little fun, Evans, I mean, it's not like you've never talked crap about me before, have you?"

"Well, that's different."

"And why is that?"

"Because I hate you."

"Oh… good point. Likewise, Evans, likewise."

Sirius and Jade rolled their eyes while the rest of the group snickered at the continuous bickering of Lily and James.

"And here comes Madam Hooch, she releases the snitch…… the bludgers……… and throws up the quaffle to begin the game!" shouted McGonagall.

Everyone shut up and paid attention.

"The quaffle is taken to position by Ravenclaw, with precise movement around passing back and forth.  Here's Hennings, with the quaffle.. shot…. save by Wood!! But a bludger has knocked the Gryffindor out of the way, but the quaffle is now taken by Jones.  Jones of Gryffindor, to Pratt, back to Jones.  Intercepted and a break-away for Ravenclaw! Hennings, all alone… Wood tries to recover.  Score! 10-0 Ravenclaw."

"Gee for being head of our House, she sure is enthusiastic about the other team scoring." muttered Sirius.

"Oh give it a rest, she's only trying to be fair."

"Only you would say that, Evans."

"Shut up Potter." She didn't need to say this because once again James was watching the game with blazing eyes.  Remus was currently explaining to Carly the purpose of the bludgers, while Sirius and Jade were both bouncing up and down, watching the game.  Lily took another glace at James and started thinking.

Hmm… just look at him.  He seems so calm and relaxed.  I wish I could see more of this side of Potter.  Then again, I don't' want to.  I rather enjoy hating him.  He hates me, so it doesn't really matter.  Still, something about those eyes of his.  Full concentration.  My, I've never seen this side of him before.  He looks rather…. cute.  OH MY GOD!! No, Lily, no you did not just say that.  Potter is a troll.  A cute troll. No!! Turn away from him. Now!

Lily turned her head back to the game and saw another goal by Ravenclaw.  Gryffindor was however, fighting with all they had, and the score was 90 – 50 in favor of Ravenclaw.  Gryffindor scored two more goals, and then all of a sudden, the seeker from Ravenclaw began to down, with the Gryffindor seeker followed close behind. 

"Both seekers racing for the snitch.  Ravenclaw in the lead. With Gryffindor not too far behind. Han from Gryffindor with the longer reach, he looks like he's gonna get it!!!! Oh what flying the Ravenclaw seeker!!! She ducks under Han's arm, bats it away….. and GRABS THE SNITICH! Ravenclaw wins 240 – 70.  Thank you all for attending. Congratulations Ravenclaw.  Please return to your dormitories."

James walked back with all of his friends.  Though they were talking about the game.  He became lost in his own little world.

I can do better than those guys.  Next year, I'm going to make it to the quidditch team, and everyone will know that Gryffindor is the best.  Then I'll be captain later on.  Me, Sirius, and Remus will be legendary in this sport.  I can't wait til next year.  I want to play already! Damn that rule.  Oh well, looks like I'm just going to have to stick with pestering Evans for now.

James repeated those words to himself as we went to sleep that night.

"We're going to be legendary."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**My first attempt at quidditch.  Well really, it's not all that great.  But I'm saving my real skill for Peter later on in their years… especially when James, Sirius, Remus, and Jade join the squad.  Sorry if it was boring haha. Well I'll catch you all laters.  Hope this story is still great like you all said it was.  Peace.**


	8. Christmas Spirit Lives Even in the Bigge...

Wow guys, thanks a lot for all the reviews.  This is really cool.  I'm glad you all like it.  Well here we go, another chapter in the making

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Christmas time was drawing near in the vicinity of Hogwarts.  Everyone was either planning on going home for the holidays, staying at Hogwarts, or going on vacation with their families.  These things weren't thought of as of right now, as we join the students while they are vigorously studying for their mid-term exams.  Lily and her friends were in the library, studying hard for their potions exam.  Of course, Lily really didn't need to study, she knew all the potions from the previous months, and also two to three months in advance.  If you were to stereo-type her, most would call her a bookworm, but there is more to her than meets the eye.  Lily had a passion for reading.  One of her favorite gifts from her mom was a book that she gave Lily for her eighth birthday.  She read this book, which was entitled, "Don Quixote" constantly and enjoyed the humorous adventures of this knight and his steed.  So, Lily, is in fact, a bookworm, but she knows when to have fun.  When not studying, she is always enjoying herself walking outside with her friends, and more than often, arguing with the ever-popular James Potter.  She also enjoyed the beauty of nature.  There were times when you would find her sitting outside her windowsill watching the stars, or waking up early just to see the sun rise, starting another beautiful day.  Jade, Carly, and Penny soon became three of her very best friends.  They all loved each other and if you were to ask any of them right now if they would help one or the other, each girl would drop whatever it is that they were doing and help their friend in need.  Friendship was very important to all four of them.  To others, those four reminded them of their counterparts, the Gryffindor boys. 

James, Sirius, and Remus were inseparable.  Rarely was there one without the other, except when Remus was "sick."  So far, they have managed to get on the nerves of every single Professor on the grounds, except for Dumbledore.  They've never really encountered Professor Dumbledore before, and just like everyone else, they were pretty much afraid of him, but with high respect at the same time.  Like many eleven year old boys, they increased their fame with pranks and jokes, wreaking havoc on everyone that they felt deserved it.  Pretty much, all three have managed to be the top three students with the most detentions in one mid-term.  James and Sirius got in trouble a lot more than Remus, because in class, Remus was quiet and studious.  The other two, were always goofing off and talking with each other, earning detention after detention, especially from Professor Coggins, potions teacher and head of Slytherin house.  Currently, the three boys were serving a detention in cleaning up the potions room, after getting caught the night before trying to sneak into the broom shed to go flying.  

"That slimy Snape, I swear I am going to punch his lights in when I get out of here."

"Calm down, Sirius, you know that is highly doubtful.  Not only will you get a detention, you'll get suspended."

"Guess you're right, Remi.  But he still makes me mad.  I think I'm beginning to hate the guy."

"I think he feels the same for us, Sirius." James answered.  "It's not like we made life at Hogwarts for him any better."

"Well, it's his fault he's a Slytherin."

"And it's our fault we got caught..  We should've been more careful."

"Haha.  Well we better get going, I'm sure these vials have been cleaned enough."

Remus examined his. "Not a speck of dirt anywhere.  We're getting good at this guys."

"Detention?? I know… I hope our parents don't write asking how good we work at cleaning rooms.  I'll have no summer life when I get back home."

The three boys shuttered at Sirius' remark as they made their way down to the Tower.

"Evans, my favorite enemy.  Reading again?  Now, now, I wouldn't want to tell everyone back home that my rival is a nerd.  It would make the story sound weak."

"Quiet, Potter.  Just because I read doesn't mean I know how to have fun."

"And how DO you have fun, anyway, Evans."

"By reading and learning how to do this."  Lily said a spell that levitated James upside down floating in mid-air."

"Evans, put me down NOW!"

"You' think I'd listen to you?  This is pay back for your little prank in the beginning with my hair."

"That was three months ago!!"

"Well, come to me in three months and we'll see if you're still mad about this.  Good day, Sirius.  Remus.  Good luck trying to get him down." Lily winked and left to the girls' dorm, whle Sirius and Remus were rolling with laughter.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

The holidays were drawing near and everyone was asking what they were doing over break.  Everyone was pretty much returning to their houses over the summer.  Lily invited Jade to come over to her house during the break as well, and Jade happily accepted.  Lily missed home and wanted to tell her mom and dad in person, not with letters, all about her life with Hogwarts.  Her wonderful roommates, her top grades for mid-term exams, her first game of quidditch, and her encounters with James.  _Wait… James?!?! _Scratch that.  She decided to throw that last thought out of her head.  The day came to board the train to return to their homes, and the group managed to grab a compartment all to themselves.  They played many rounds of Exploding Snap, as well as mobbed the cart-lady for candy once or twice.  Lily managed to turn James upside-down again for cheating in their Exploding Snap game, but James knew he would get his revenge.  He enchanted dungbombs in her trunk to explode as soon as she opened it when she got back.  When they got back to King's Cross, everyone unloaded their things and said good-bye to one another, or a slight smirk, when talking about Lily and James.  Sirius would be staying with James over the break, mainly because of the fact that he hated his home life.   That was why he was so close with James.  He spend almost every waking moment with James when they were little, and with James' mischievous behavior and outgoing attitude, the two became very much alike.  They were almost brothers, really.  Remus had become one of them too, and he was planning on dropping by for a weekend at James' house over the break.  He was first going to spend time with his family, and also mentioned a seminar he had to go to for some treatment on his back.  James and Sirius were confused at this because they knew perfectly well that Remus was very healthy.  There was absolutely nothing wrong with his back.  Remus was still unsure of telling his secret.  He decided to keep it under wraps until he was ready.  Peter was just going to stay home with his family, while Frank mentioned a party.  He didn't mention, however, that it was a family party which Alice invited him to join.  Him and Alice were slowly becoming a couple, though Frank never really made it "official" yet.  Carly would be moving over the break, fortunately their new house is about a block away from Penny's house, so they would naturally be spending Christmas together.  Carly was happy with her new home, because she now could find someone to talk to about Remus.  Penny was a very good listener, and Carly assumed she knew a lot about guys, even at this age, for Penny was a very beautiful girl indeed.  She must've gotten the attention of many second or third year boys back at Hogwarts, along with Jade.  Carly and Lily were too busy studying to notice that they, too, had admirers of their own.  Carly was also not thinking about anyone else other than Remus.  She now admitted to her girl friends that she liked him, and decided to ask Penny for advice in what to do.  

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Lily passed the barrier back to the muggle station with Jade, and they both greeted their parents with hugs and kisses.  Mr. and Mrs. Evans missed their dear daughter so much, and Petunia gave Lily a glare instead of a smile much to the disappointment of the young witch.  She figured that Petunia would be proud of her as well, but her thoughts were wrong.  All the passing months ever did was make Petunia loathe Lily even more.  She knew she was in for a long summer.

When Lily got to her house, she unloaded her trunk, and with the help of her parents, was unpacking everything slowly into her room.  She missed her own room a lot over these past few months.  Though the girls' dorms were nice and comfortable, nothing could ever compare to Lily's room in her mind.  Her bed was neatly folded, and the carpet was renewed to a nice soft beige color.  She figured her parents cleaned up a bit before her return, and was grateful to be back home again.She then opened her trunk and the stench of the dungbombs began to spread through the house. Lily's green eyes narrowed and muttered her least favorite word. _Potter..._   During dinner, Lily talked animatedly about her first half of Hogwarts education.  She mentioned everything from excelling in Charms to the fast pace game of quidditch.  Lily's parents were astounded to hear that their daughter was literally having the time of her life at her new school, and it only made Petunia more jealous of her little sister.  Lily didn't mean to make her sister jealous, but Petunia was seriously taking this the wrong way.  She didn't even get Lily a Christmas present, and spent the majority of the break tormenting her by calling her a 'freak'.  Lily chose to just ignore her sister, though she still was hurt by her harsh words.  Even though she was mean and downright rude, Petunia will always be her sister, and she will love her for it.  Lily was in her room looking over all her Christmas presents that she got from her friends.  After opening them all, she brought them all back to her room, and started on her thank-you letters to her friends.

_Dear Jade,_

_  Thanks so much for the drawing that you gave me.  The picture was very beautiful.  It was as if I was in the picture looking at the sunset for real.  You are a very talented artist, and I hope that my present was appealing to you as well.  Hope you enjoy the all-night pass to Charlie's!! I know how much you loved that place, now you don't have to worry about running out of tokens!_

_Your best friend,  
Lily_

Carly gave Lily new quills, one for every subject, so that she didn't have to keep reusing the same one.  Penny gave Lily a new robe to match her starlit green eyes.  Lily wrote back to her saying that it was her favorite robe, and that she wished she could wear it to class every day.  She got all sorts of candy from Frank, Alice, and Peter.  Sirius gave her a prankbook from Diagon Alley, saying that this would make your tormentings of 'Jamesy-boy' a lot funnier than just screaming at him.  Remus gave her a picture of her and the girls that was taken by him one day at the Lion's Heart.  It was framed in a beautiful oak wood, and Lily decided to keep it with her wherever she went.  She was not ready however, for the package that was left unopen. An owl came to her during her letter to Jade, with a small package in tow, and Lily accepted it, but then gasped and left it on her bed. She was very doubtful in opening this, for it said on a tag,

**To Evans:**

**From Potter (I dare you to open this, if you have the nerve)**

Lily, scolding herself for even giving in to James' attempt to intimidate her, carefully opened the package. She was expecting for it to explode, or hex her in some way, but it stayed, well, normal.  She reached inside and found a book entitled, "The Many Adventures of Chudley Gremschen".    She was very curious about this book, and didn't' know who in the heck this Chudley Gremschen was.  She opened the book to find a letter folded neatly inside the front cover.  She opened it and read it to herself.

_Hey Evans,_

_Merry Christmas, my favorite redheaded nerd.  I figured you would like this gift, so I went ahead and bought it for you just yesterday.  You should be getting it on Christmas day so sorry for the late timing.  I was debating on whether I should get you anything or not.  I figured why not, you are one of the ones that has made my life in Hogwarts interesting.  Do me a favor and teach me how to do that upside-down thing you did on me twice before break.  It seems rather humorous to Sirius, and I want to try it out on him to get back for laughing at me all day and all night.  Well to tell you about the book, I've seen you reading a book called "Don Quixote" and I asked Alice what it was about, her being muggle-born like you.  Well, this is a sort of 'wizard' version of the knight.  It's about a wizard named Chudley Gremschen, and it has many adventures of him and his second, Jester.  Pretty funny, I read the first couple of chapters, maybe you'd like it.  Well I'm gonna go now.  I'm getting tired of this letter.  See you in school Evans.  Watch you back now._

_Your worst nightmare,_

_James_

Lily smirked at this letter and decided to send one back.  It was very thoughtful of James to give her such a gift, and she wanted to show her gratitude at least.  She didn't really think James paid any real attention to her, so this was very surprising for James to give her a wonderful gift such as a book.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

James and Sirius were out in the backyard, playing quidditch.  They were having a little one-on one, playing chaser and keeper at the same time.  Right now the score was tied 90-90 and it was the first to a hundred.  Although James and Sirius were best friends, when it came to quidditch, they were both fierce competitors.  Their friendship remained, but the joys of victory meant a lot to the both of them.  It was this determination that would make James and Sirius two of the best quidditch players will ever see in the future. James was in control and happily announced his attack.

"And here's Potter, with a look in his eye, spots the hoops open.  He looks, fakes left, rolls right… and…"

"Save by Black!" shouted Sirius, stopping the quaffle.  "And now it's Potter on defense, with a doubtful look on his face.  Black comes in, ducks down underneath.  Gets by and blows Potter away!! He goes, shoots and… hey, where'd it go?"

"And it's Potter on a breakaway!!! What a defensive steal by Potter, popping out the quaffle from under his arm!!" Sirius scowled and desperately tried to catch James, who was looking at him laughing, but then again, not knowing where he was going either.  Therefore, he didn't' see the owl fluttering by and when he turned around he had a mouthful of feathers and an angry owl pecking at him fiercely. 

"BWAHHAHAHAHAH! And Potter gets stopped by an owl?!? What a break for Black!! Steals the quaffle and scores!! Team Sirius wins!! Jamesy-boy, what happened there pal?"

"You got lucky that's what!! The bloody owl got in my way… pathetic excuse for poultry.  Hey there's a letter." James snatched the letter out of the owl's grip and then threw a treat that went into Sirius's shirt.  The owl pelted down and started attacking Sirius searching for the food.

"Hey!! Stupid owl… geroff me!!! James!!!!!!! James!!!!!" James wasn't listening however and unfolded the mysterious letter and began to read it.

_Potter, _

_I don't know whether to say thank you for the wonderful gift or to be angry at you for your recent joke you pulled with your stupid dungbombs. I had to endure a lecture of manners from my mother because she though that 'I' was the one who caused that stench!!! I hate you. I hate you. I hope you get that stuck in your head, Potter because you're going to get it when we get back. So watch YOUR back.  Needless to say, I think the book is fantastic.  I read the first chapter, and already I am hooked.  You surprise me sometimes Potty.  First you seem all arrogant, and downright impossible to get along with, and then you go and do something like this.  Still, I hate you.  Just like you hate me.  Right?? Right.  Well, I didn't get you present, but I figured that this would be to your liking. Here's the charm that you so wanted.  Just say 'Topsy Turvillium' and Sirius will be seeing the world from a different perspective in no time.  It shouldn't take long for someone as talented as you to perfect.  Oh my, look at me giving you a compliment.  This is certainly a weird holiday.  I'm gonna go now before I inflate more nonsense in that big piece of gunk you call a head.  Bye bye Potty-Wotty.  Don't let Sirius see that name now._

_Til the next time I yell at you,_

_Lily_

James smiled at this letter and put it in his pocket and then turned to Sirius only to find him standing right behind him looking like he was about to burst.

"P-p-potty Wotty?? Potty Wotty!!!!"

"Shut up Sirius"

"Potty wotty, potty wotty, potty wotty…" he yelled this in James' ear all the way back to the house, irritating the living daylights out of James.  With this, he sent another treat down his shirt, and once again the owl attacked Sirius leaving James smiling inwardly to himself.  A couple of minutes later, they got back to the house to find that Remus and his family have come to join the Potters and Sirius for dinner.  Mr. and Mrs. Lupin were quite nervous at first, but soon got to feel comfortable around the Potters.  They saw why Remus was so nice and caring, because both of his parents were talking to Mr. and Mrs. Potter with a gentle tone, and listened intently whenever they weren't talking.  All in all, it turned out to be a great holiday for everyone, and soon it came time to board again for Hogwarts.  Each of the Gryffindor first years met each other back at the school and the ever-running routine came again, as they headed off to their classes in high spirits.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, I'm almost in double digits in reviews and all.  Thanks everyone for the encouraging words.  I hope this Christmas chapter fulfilled your thirst for more of my story, and I plan on updating two more chapters by the end of the day.  Check back laters!! Keep up the reviews! I love it.  Thanks again.  

**Next chapter, we will get our first live encounter with Severus Snape and Lucius Malfoy, I have been omitting their presence for quite some time, and they're just as important as the rest of them as well.  Can't have a good story without a couple of bad guys ya know….the ultimate baddie Voldemort won't come along till later on in the story, so stay tuned!!!**

** --Erick--**


	9. Slytherin Slimeballs

It was the month of February and classes were in full swing.  Friday came and flying lessons were to be held on the quidditch pitch, for the first years were going to have a mock game of quidditch.  They used the quaffle, but instead of bludgers they used tennis balls that Madam Hooch would throw and the beaters would fly to it and bat it towards the chasers.  For mock snitches, Madam Hooch duplicated several little silver spheres that glistened in the sunlight.  She used a charm so that every time she hit one with her bat, the noise would echo loud enough for the seekers to here, and the two would fly to try and grab it while it swerved in mid-air avoiding the players.  It wasn't as fast as the real snitch, but it still was pretty hard to catch.  Today, the Gryffindors had lessons with the Slytherins, and everyone knows the bad blood between these two houses.  Slytherin never really got along with any of the houses, but they pretty much hated Gryffindors to a pulp.  Well, in the mock game, the three chasers were indeed, James, Sirius and Remus for the Gryffindors.  The three chasers for Slytherin were three boys: Severus Snape, Lucius Malfoy, and Rodolphus Lestrange.  These three were the ring leaders of the first year Slytherins, but were also the main targets for the trio of pranksters that were now their opponents in quidditch.  The three exchanged menacing glances before the quaffle was released, and both teams were even.  Snape and his cronies were good flyers, but they were very dirty players.  It was only supposed to be a mock game, but these six chasers were going at it as if it was war.  Stealing the quaffle, bumping brooms, and even trying to throw them off their own brooms.  Madam Hooch was becoming impatient and tried calming them down, but it was no use.  These two teams of chasers were out for blood.  

James, Sirius, and Remus, although hating the other three with a passion, respected the rules of the game, and only played dirty when necessary, as in to steal the quaffle.  They didn't dare try to kill their opponents, and were skillfully avoiding the threats that the Slytherins gave them.  Remus almost got flown off by Lestrange once, and James came to his rescue to help him back up to mounting his broom again.  The Slytherins were much to distracted in killing the three Gryffindors, so they were losing the game, 70 – 40.  

The other students took turns with the beater and seeker positions.  Jade was pretty much pelting the three Slytherins left and right with the tennis balls, and even managed to knock the quaffle out of Snape's hands for Sirius to catch and score.  Sirius beamed at Jade with glowing eyes and Jade just gave him a small wink before it was Lily's turn.  Lily got the hang of flying, and when it was her turn to be a beater, she was ready.  She played softball in her early years, and was known as a good hitter on her team.  She knew where to place the ball, and when the tennis ball was thrown up, Lily shot up with her broom and gave the ball a good whack.  The ball sailed through the air with speed and smacked Snape right on the forehead, causing the Gryffindors to break down in laughter.  James, Sirius, and Remus stopped and started laughing as well, after James took the quaffle from Snape and scored, of course.  Snape was indeed furious, and decided to get back at that red-headed beauty.  He whispered something to Malfoy and Lestrange, and had dark looks on their faces as Lily took her turn to play the seeker role. Lily heard the loud clanging of the ball and saw it.  She immediately started to dive for it, but then Lestrange and Malfoy surrounded her.  She had no where to go and was not leading her towards the pillar of one of the hoops.  The Gryffindors looked in complete horror, but James took action.  He took out his wand and muttered something sending sparks towards Lily's broom.  It somehow managed to make the broom to shake off the boys' grips on it, and suddenly swerved over to the left as James jerked his wand to the left.  Lily opened her eyes to see that she was fine, and as soon as James saw this, he muttered the countercurse so that Lily was in control of her broom again  Lily was so scared she didn't know what was going on, and was receiving hugs from all of her friends.  She didn't' know what happened after the two boys surrounded her.  She thought she was going to be seriously injured.  Everyone was confused at what happened, but Jade looked up and saw James with his wand in his hand, and smoke was coming out of it as if he had just used it for something.  James looked at Jade and gave her a nod.  She smiled and saw that he put his finger over his own mouth to tell her to keep quiet, figuring that she knew.  After all, Jade has never been clueless in her life.  She was always aware at what was going on.  James figured Lily would never believe that it was him who rescued her from harm's way.  Jade nodded and simply told Lily,

"The broom must've malfunctioned right before you hit the pillar, so instead of harming you, it saved you."

Lily looked at her friend all confused but decided to believe her, glad that she was safe.  Snape, Malfoy, and Lestrange all had their mouths open in shock at what happened. After class, James, Sirius, and Remus decided to confront the three slimeballs.  

"Well, Snivellus, looks like your plan didn't turn out the way it did."

"Shut up, Potter.  She deserved it for hitting that thing into my head."

"She was playing fair, Snape.  Give her a break!!"

"I'll break something… you want those glasses permanently stuck inside your eyeballs?"

Sirius glared at him with menacing eyes, but Lestrange decided to make a remark.

"That filthy mudblood deserves nothing better."

"Take that back, Rudolph"

"What'd you call me, Black?"

"Rudolph, and I plan on giving you a bloody red nose just for it."

"Try it….."

Remus, being the peacemaker, held his friend back.  Malfoy laughed at him.

"Oh, it's Lupin to the rescue, always being the noble one."

"I prefer to think with my head, and not with my rear, Malfoy, so I suggest you take your friends and leave us before things get out of your control."

"And how is that supposed to happen."

"Hello boys, I see there's no trouble here?" Professor McGonagall stepped in between the two groups.

"No, Professor, just discussing quidditch."

"I hope so, Mr. Potter.  Now please, off to dinner."

"Yes, Professor."

James, Sirius, and Remus separated themselves from the three Slytherins, but James would never forget what Snape called Lily.  He may have hated Lily as well, but calling her a 'mudblood' was something that was just too far.  No one disgraced anyone like that without paying for it, and he decided that Snape will pay for it for as long as he lived.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Severus and his two buddies left towards the Great Hall and ran into the other Gryffindors along the way.  They got into a nasty argument, with Malfoy this time, calling Carly and Lily a mudblood.  Peter and Frank stepped up and faced them eye-to-eye, but knew they were outnumbered.  Alice put a hand on Frank's arm to calm him down, but Lestrange decided to advance on Alice and approached her putting his hands on her hips.  She struggled to get away and Lestrange was soon punched out by an angry Frank. Lestrange then managed to roll on top of Frank and began pummeling him to a bloody mess while Peter was being held back by the other two.  The girls were screaming for help, and it came in the figures of James, Remus, and Sirus who ran up and pulled the two fighting boys apart.  Clearly outnumbered now, the Slytherins stalked off and the others lead Frank to the hospital wing to get treated.  After a couple of minutes, everyone decided to head down to dinner to catch a last minute snack before starting their homework, but Alice stayed behind to keep Frank company.  Everyone knew that they were together, and this act alone showed how bad the Frank and Alice tried to hide their relationship.  Although most of them didn't' approve of them being together when they were this young, they were still happy for both of their friends.

"I think they make a cute couple." said Penny.

"Yeah, I guess so.  Frank is always talking about her to me in class." mentioned Peter.

"How nice, but Pete, don't hog all the chicken man.  I'm hungry too." said Sirius as Peter chuckled.  He and the rest of the group saw James carefully slide his empty plate to replace Sirius' filled one.  Sirius didn't notice this and was happily munching away on the chicken that he got.  

"Well I agree with you Penny," said Lily.  "These boys here are just ignorant.  It's sweet what's going on between Frank and Ally.  Those two are just made for each other."

"Lily, if you can see that with them, why can't you see that with you and James?" said Jade.

"BECAUSE THAT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!!" both James and Lily shouted.

"See?? You two even manage to yell out the same exact words."

"Just like you and Sirius, I might add." Sirius then looked up.

"Huh?" said Sirius

"Well… well… that's different, Lily."

"How is that different??"

"Because Sirius is an idiot."

"So is James!!"  
"I know, but Sirius is more of one."

"I think they're the same…"

"Hmm come to think of it… yeah me too."

James rolles his eyes. "Uh hello… we're right here ya know."

"Good, you can hear us clearly then.  It's about time you knew the truth."

"That's not very nice to say to someone that just…."

"Just what, Potter?? Spit it out!"

"Just…. uhh…  got a 115% on his Transfiguration exam!"

"Well way to rub it in, you git."

"Thanks, Evans.  I'll be sure to rub more of it when we get our Charms exam."

"I already have mine…. I hope you can get more than 135%"

"WHAT??!?!" This was everyone saying this word, joining with James in astonishment.

"What… it's not that big of a deal."

"Oh shut up, Lily.  I'll be lucky to even get an average grade." piped up Carly. 

"Come on, I know for a fact that all of you manage to get above average, so don't 'oh shut up Lily' me."

"Oh, shut up Lily." said James with a smirk.

"I hate you."

"I hate you too, Lillian." Saying this name forced Lily to chase James out of the room.  He managed to dodge her for a bit, snagging a bit of more food before bolting down towards the door with Lily trailing behind.

"Those two lovebirds… I swear.  They are just too blind." said Sirius.  He still hadn't figured out that his plate was empty and was now chewing on the leftovers that were stuck in between his teeth, which he thought was food from his plate. 

Jade shook her head and patted Sirius on the back.  "It's ok, Sirius.  We're all like that sometimes."  This earned stifled giggles from everyone else and a confused Sirius still munching away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Severus sat down in the Slytherin common room with a scowl on his face.  Rodolphus, Lucius, and Bellatrix were still snickering at him from the flying lesson.

"I can't believe you let a mudblood hit you in the head." said Lucius.

"Hey, it wasn't my fault.  You were supposed to cover me."

"I was too busy trying to knock out Lupin, wasn't my fault."

"Oh come on, lighten up." interrupted Rodolphus.  "We certainly taught them a lesson afterwards.  That lowlife Longbottom is now in the hospital wing, crying out blood from under his eyes."

"That was bloody brilliant, I must say you are a very strong man, Rod, dearest."

"Thanks Trix," and kissed her on the lips.

"That's just gross." said Snape.  Get away from me when you two do that.

"Sure Sevvy-boy, you and your sick mind would be wandering off to some happy place where you would be snogging that Evans girl forever."

"Shut up, Lucy.  You know very well that I despise all muggle-borns.  Especially Gryffindors."

"Don't call me Lucy.  I hate that."

"That's not what Narcissa says, Lucy-boy." teased Bellatrix.

"Oh shut up."

Severus ignored the bickering of his friends and concentrated on getting revenge on Potter and his little gang. _He thinks he's so high and mighty.  He's nothing but a lowlife arrogant bastard that has nothing better to do than cause a ruckus wherever he goes. _ Severus Snape HATED, I mean HATED, James Potter.  Though similar in the fact that they are both intelligent wizards.  They were very different, causing more friction between the two.  First of all, James had an outgoing personality, but to someone like Snape, who is almost antisocial himself, James to him seemed to be a boasting hothead, who praises himself for all his glories.  He sees James every time they get back their potions exams.  Though Severus usually got the highest, James would always flaunt his paper at his friends, making it seem like he was a god of the subject.  Another difference is that James being a pureblood, took a liking to muggle-borns.  Now Snape could tolerate muggle-borns himself, but in order to look good in front of his friends, he had to say that awful word to Lily Evans, whom he secretly admired, but refused to everyone, including himself. Lily was different, mainly because she was highly smart, and when it wasn't himself that got top marks in potions, it was none other than Lily herself.  He admired her intelligence as well as her beauty, and really couldn't understand why she would associate herself with awful companions like Potter and that crazy girl, Jade Chapman. Other than Lily, any other 'mudbloods' were considered worthless to him, but James treated everyone as equal, and Severus didn't take this lightly.  He thought at the time that pure-bloods were much better wizards then muggle-borns, but then thinking about Lily Evans, merely contradicted his thoughts again.  _This Evans girl is seriously clouding up my thoughts.  I need some time to think for myself. _With this in mind, he walked off to his room, leaving his three friends snickering about Frank's recent beating.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, back at the hospital wing, the Gryffindor first years were all going to visit Frank in the hospital wing.  Knowing that Alice was in there as well, they all peeked into the room first, and just saw a glimpse of Alice leaning over to kiss Frank on the lips.  Penny let out a loud sigh that blowed their cover, and Alice jumped back,almost falling off of her chair.  The others laughed and entered the room, teasing the couple constantly.

"And you tried to hide it from us, too, you can't hide anything from us!!!" shouted Sirius.

"I wouldn't say that Sirius… you still don't even know that James took all of your food at dinner." teased Jade.

"Ummmm… of course I did.  I was just testing you guys."

"Sure Sirius.. remember. You can't hide ANYTHING from us!" said Carly while everyone else laughed.

Sirius gave a mock pout but went back smiling again as Penny mentioned something to Lily and James..

"So Lily, how was chasing James around the bloody school, I heard you cornered him at the Astronomy Tower? You know what else that place is known for, right?"

"NO, WE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING OF THAT SORT, PENNY."

"Yeah, I mean seriously, Penny… you think I'd kiss… THAT?!?!"

"Oh come off it, Potter.  As if I would even come close to an ugly species like you."

"The James Potter species doesn't associate with fire-flowers such as yourself, Evans.  James is reserved for more… delicate creatures."

"You have such a big head, I'm surprised it even fits through a door." muttered Carly. James smiled and held up his hands in mock surrender ending the conversation.

"Well, I talked to McGonagall, and she said she'll let me announce the games next year!!" chimed Peter.  "So you better make the team like you all promised.  It wouldn't be any fun without you three in it.  You too, of course, Jade."

"Gee, thanks Pete." Jade droned, but was inwardly pleased that she got some attention as well as the three other boys.

"I'm going to train extra over the summer just so I can make it to the team." said James.  "Besides I overheard Madam Hooch in the hallways talking to our trusty Captain Wood, and she's been saying good things about us four, so have no fear, Pete!"

They all smiled and checked the clock realizing how much time passed by.  Lily decided to call it a night.

"Well I'm off, I have to go do something.  Frank, I hope you feel better tomorrow.  Good night everyone."

"Wait for us, Lily!!" the other five girls chorused.  One by one each of them left but before Lily walked out the door, James said,

"Hey Evans, what was it that you were gonna do…. trying to plan my downfall, are you?"

"Oh that's already been done."

James gulped. "Oh… well have fun doing whatever you're doing then."

"I'm sure I will Potter.  Let's just say…. I have a bit of light 'reading' to catch up on." Lily smiled a little at him and walked off, while James beamed at her statement.

"What'd she mean, by that?" asked Remus.

"Nothing, Remi… let's just say it's an 'enemy' sort of thing."

"Whatever you say, bud."

The boys spent another hour talking with Frank before heading up.  On the way, they came across another passageway they found behind one of the knight statues.  They memorized the surroundings of it, and decided to go explore where it goes over the weekend.  On the way back, Sirius was explaining to the boys his thoughts on where the passage might lead, but James wasn't listening all that much.  Far in the back of his mind, he was talking to himself, repeating three words that made him want to jump for joy.

_She likes it…she likes it…she likes it…_


	10. The Best Curse in the World

Well, it looks like the reviews have all been great so far.  Thanks to everyone for taking the time and everything.   I hope these past few chapters have intrigued you to read more of it.  Sorry for the lack of romance between Lily & James.  You know how stubborn they are.  The only hints of romance between two people is Frank/Alice & Remus/Carly… the rest will come later, and I think you know who the pairings are ;).  Well anyway, on with the story! Thanks again!

**On a side note, I'd like to wish my pal Harry Potter a happy birthday.  I know, he's famous and all now thanks to Miss Rowling, but I still wanted to wish him one.  Make sure you do it yourselves, too guys!!! Haha.**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"POTTER!! I AM STARTING TO GET SICK AND TIRED OF YOUR PATHETIC PRANKS, NOW CHANGE MY ROBES BACK!!" screamed Lily.  She was currently furious with James because he had charmed her robe to make it as if it were a filthy, dirty rag.  Oh, did I mention it smelled too?

"Aww come on, Evans.  Take a joke."

"This isn't funny!!! This is the robe that Penny gave me for Christmas and you are ruining it!"

"It's only a charm, I can change it back."

"Well DO IT THEN!"

"Fine, fine."

James muttered the countercurse and then had to duck for cover because Lily had just thrown a book at his head.  

"Potter, I don't know why for once you can just leave me alone. What is it your mission in life to annoy me?"

"Am I doing a good job?"

"Yes!!!"

James flashed Lily a smile that only disgusted her even more.  The others were used to their fighting, after almost nine months of living with them.  They just stayed quiet, and phased their voices out of their heads.  Jade shook her head at Lily.  _Wonder how she would act if she found out James was the one that saved her face from being broken. _Jade had a sense that these two, although they had a weird way of showing it, liked each other.  Lily denied it just as much as James did, and well, that's the first step in developing a crush: denial.  Jade figured that only time will tell when these two would get together.  Her, Carly, and Penny actually made a bet saying which year Lily and James would finally realize their true feelings for each other.  

The following day, James and Sirius were in the library for some peculiar reason.  You hardly ever find those two in the library, but they were there for a purpose.  Sirius had a brilliant idea in drawing a map of Hogwarts.  Sirius had a hidden talent of drawing, so he could easily put the map together himself.  It was Remus' idea that made the map a little more complicating than expected.  See, James wanted to decrease their chances of getting caught, and he wanted to find a way to make sure he knew where everyone was.  Remus told them about a couple of books in the library that could tell them how to track people, and that's what they were doing right now.  Remus was 'sick' again so he wasn't able to join them, but he knew that James was smart enough to handle the task on his own.  Sirius came with James, well just because they were practically joined at the hip.  You would hardly see one without the other.  Everyone knew the dynamic duo of James Potter and Sirius Black.  The two boys found the books in the back of the library and went to go sit down and research in what to do.  Well, actually James was researching while Sirius was trying to remember how the third and fourth corridors connected.  He was currently trying to draw out a rough sketch of the map.  They decided that they would finalize the map as soon as they knew every single detail of the map.  After a while, James and Sirius were heading back to the Gryffindor Tower.  Sirius looked out the window as the full moon shone brightly through the stained glass.  Sirius then had a hunch.

"Hey, James, you know tonight's a full moon?

James looked out the window.  "Yeah, it is.  Why?

"You ever notice that Remus is never with us on a night of the full moon?"

"Come to think of it, he never is with us at a full moon.  He's always visiting his Mum."

"Yeah… that's pretty weird if you ask me."

"Wait!! I came across it while I was studying one day for our DATDA class."

"You mean, the Defense against the…

"Dark Arts, yes, I was just too lazy to say the whole thing."

"James, I think I'm rubbing off on you."

"I know, I've noticed.  Anyway, just think about it, what never wants to be seen during a full moon night."

"Hmm…. werewolves?"

"Exactly!! Perhaps Remus is a werewolf."

"Or maybe his mum is!"

"Nah, why would he say he was going to visit her?  Werewolves hunt humans."

"Oh yeah… you really think so?? It does kinda make sense.  He's always nervous whenever he's saying that his mum is sick.  Maybe he's afraid to tell us."

"I don't see why he should be afraid, though."

"Well, maybe because he'd think that we would think that he's a monster and never want to be friends with him again."

"But that's nonsense, of course we'll still be friends.  He's Remus!! The smart one of our group!  Well, we're all smart, but he's the one with the most common sense.  It's because of him that Evans and her gang even talk to us."

"Yeah, but well, maybe he just doesn't know that fact yet.  I mean, remember in the beginning of the year, he said that he never really had friends before.  Perhaps we are the first ones to take him in."

"Well I'm glad we did.  We'd be nothing without Remus.  He's the one that is always planning our master pranks, and he covers us when we forget to take notes.  Sirius, I think we should talk about this with him when he gets back.  It's time he faces his fear.  I mean, it's better for him to tell us now than later."

"Yeah, we'll do that when he returns.  But for now, let's go visit those house-elves again.  I'm feeling hungry from all that map-making."

"Sure thing, let's do it."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Carly Atwater loves her life as of right now.  When she found out that she was a witch, she was just as ecstatic as Lily was.  Her parents' reaction was different, though.  They refused to let her go to Hogwarts, but the constant notices of a hundred owls would make anyone change their mind.  See, they thought that her going to a school of witchcraft and wizardry would disgrace the family name.  Sometimes, at night, she cries in her sleep because her parents may never accept her for what she truly is.  Carly was indeed glad to have friends like the people she made during her first year.  Lily, Jade, Penny, and Alice are like sisters to her.  Also, she met the most wonderful person by the name of Remus Lupin.  After finally admitting to herself that she liked Remus, she became a little more nervous whenever she was around him.  Penny told her during the Christmas break to just be herself, because she was beautiful.  She blushed at these words, but took it to heart.  Besides, the way Remus was, she thought, you could never be nervous when you talk to him.  He always made you feel comfortable and he was very easy to talk to.  That's what she liked about him, oh and the fact he was arguably one of the cutest boys in her year.

"Hey, Penny, do you know where Remus is?" She asked.

"Oh, he mentioned something about going to visit his sick mother." replied Penny.

"Her mom gets sick a lot, doesn't she?"

"Yeah, at least every month.  Maybe she has some sort of disease or something."

"Oh, poor Remus.  I don't know though, it doesn't seem like he's telling us everything."

"What do you mean, Carly?  He tells you everything.  You two are almost as close as James and Sirius are… best friends."

"Yeah, but when Remus talks he always looks into your eyes.  When he makes excuses like this or when he's nervous, he doesn't really look at you.  I know this, after always talking to him about stuff.  I don't know… I hope he's alright."

"Don't worry about it Carly.  Remus can take care of himself.  He hangs out with the two most impossible gits in the school."

"I don't know, Jade… I think James and Sirius are actually good-looking."

"Of course they are, but that doesn't mean they have to be all 'oh look at me I'm the coolest'. Sometimes it just annoys me."

"Ooooh! So you're saying that you like Sirius??"

"Ewwww no!!! How did you come up with that?"

"From the way you two flirt with each other."

"You mean FIGHT with each other.  How could you think of that. When two people fight, that means they hate each other."

"Uhhh.. hellooo.. James and Lily?"

"Well, that's different!!"

"You always say that!!"

"Well it is! James and Lily are made for each other."

"Whatever, Jade.  I still think you should get to know Sirius more though.  Maybe there's more than meets the eye."

"Sure, Carly, I'll do that later, though.  I have to memorize the four parts of a getroladia plant and its functions for the Herbology exam tomorrow."  

"Alright, I guess I'll help you then.  I got nothing else better to do."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

>

The weekend past, and Remus was finally back.  Carly was happy to see him again, but James and Sirius were still plotting on how to tell Remus that they know about his condition.  They didn't want to just tell him straight up, and they rarely had time all day to get him alone, so they figured they'd do it at night-time after dinner.  The day went by rather slow.  James mastered the upside-down charm and used it on Sirius in the morning while he was still asleep.  Sirius, still had some after-effects of his frightful wakening and was shivering a little bit.  He was even afraid to go to sleep during History of Magic, and he managed to just waste his time perfecting his sketch of the map that he, James and Remus were working on.  Once again, Lily and James got into a fight again, causing another ruckus in the common room before dinner.  This, however, ended quickly, plainly because James spotted Lily with her hand clenched on her wand as if she was about to kill.

Dinner came, and the ten Gryffindors pigged themselves out once again.  They never really get tired of the food here at Hogwarts, and they discussed a little on who makes such delicious food.  James, Sirius, and Remus all smiled at this and decided not to say a word and listen to what the others had to say.  Their mouths were too full to mention things anyway.  When the trio made their way back to the Tower, James and Sirius purposefully walked a little slower than usual.  This caused Remus to walk slowly with them, and that was when James decided to break the ice.

"So Remus, how is your mum?"

"She's fine…. heh… all better now."

"Better, huh?" came Sirius.  "So how long before she get sick?"

"Yeah, I'd say she'll get sick in around…… twenty-one days from now??"

Remus paled as he calculated the days in his head.  He memorized the chart for the entire year, and recognized the day to be a full moon night. He started to worry a little.

"How did you know?"

"Just a hunch, I guess."

"Ummmm… sure."

"Remus, why can't you just tell us?"

"I don't know what you're talking about James."

"Remus, I know for a fact that your mum wasn't sick.  Sirius and I wrote a get-well letter to your mum last week, and she replied today saying that she was perfectly fine."

"I don't know what you're playing, at but you need to stop.  I don't appreciate you butting into my personal life."

"We're sorry, Remus." said Sirius.  "You understand however why you are lying to us.  That's not what friends do."

"People lie all the time, Sirius."

"So you admit it."

Remus put his head down.  "Yes…. I lied to you for all those excuses.  See, I'm not normal.  I have a condition…." Sirius and James looked at Remus with blazing eyes.

"I'm a…. a… werewolf."

"Why couldn't you tell us this?"

"BECAUSE I WAS AFRAID YOU'D HATE ME!!" bellowed Remus.  James and Sirius were caught completely off guard.  They had never seen Remus blow up at anyone before, and were petrified by the look in his eyes that he was indeed angry. "I'M A MONSTER, AND I DIDN'T WANT TO LOSE MY BEST FRIENDS.  I-I-I'M SORRY BUT I WAS JUST SCARED."

"Remus, old buddy…. we know what it feels like to be scared of not telling people things.  James is living proof!! He's scared to confess his undying love for Lily."

"You git… don't make me turn you upside-down again.  I'll even charm you to wear a dress so everyone can see your boxers with little teddy bears on them."  

Remus didn't' say anything, but chuckled a little.  No matter what, James and Sirius always found a way to cheer him up.

"Guys, thanks.  Now I understand how great you two really are.  You know, not many people would take my condition the way you two are taking it.  I'm very grateful."

"No problem, Remmy old buddy!" said Sirius.  "You were always there for us, you think we'd forget that?  We're behind you til the end."

Remus smiled and said, "Yeah… I know that now.  And by the way, I never really did get to apologize for my lame-o gifts that I gave you two.  Candy isn't all that appealing for a Christmas gift."

"Yes it is!!!" shouted Sirius.  "Candy is so awesome!! I love it to death.  I even got Dumbledore's card from your Chocolate Frogs pack.  I need his to complete my collection.  So I wasn't disappointed at all."

"Besides Remus," said James.  "Your friendship is a gift that neither of us ever took for granted, and today, you managed to give us the greatest gift any friend could ever have."

"What's that, James?"

"Honesty."

Remus positively glowed at James' words, while Sirius smiled and put his arms around his two pals, and they walked happily into the common room.  To Remus, today was living proof that James' words in the beginning were indeed true.  '_We're inseparable'.  _With this thought in his head, he promised to always be honest with James and Sirius.  They have been, are, and always will be his best friends, till death and beyond.  With three smiling faces, all three boys fell asleep accomplishing what they all thought was impossible.  Once again, they have made their already tight bond with each other stronger than ever before, and it felt as if nothing could break it now.  They felt invincible together, and they knew that no matter what, so long as they shared that bond, nothing could ever stand in their way… no girls, no demons, no nightmares, no curses, no Slytherins, nothing.  

In his head, Remus now thought of being a werewolf now as a blessing rather than a curse, for if it wasn't for his  condition, then he, James, and Sirius would never have shared this special moment together as friends.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**So what'd you think…. good?  I wanted to make Remus' condition a big deal, and that everyone was well aware of it.  Didn't think James and Sirius were smart, huh. Think again!!!  I really do believe that it was because of Remus' condition that strengthened the bond between the Marauders, minus Peter… he's not a part of the group yet, but he will be soon.  This chapter… I wanted everyone to see the meaning of friendship to me, and I wanted to express it through Remus.  Thank you Remus, for being who you are.  Peace out everyone.  **


	11. Strength of a Woman

Wow guys all these reviews are astonishing.  Just for that, I want to update more, but I'm having trouble trying to set things up for the future and whatnot.  It's pretty difficult, but I hope that it turns out alright.

**Anna Black – I used a line from the 'Lion King'????' Haahahaha I never knew I did that… pretty cool.  It gives me an idea.**

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Because Remus told the truth, it helped his excuses to be more believable, now that James and Sirius were aware and had his back.  Being the masterminds of deception, James and Sirius got to give Remus ideas on different excuses, instead of just his mum being sick.  That was getting old, anyway.  There were things such as family reunions, funerals, and tickets to professional quidditch games when they knew a game was being held on a day of the full moon.  Remus took everything and decided to use them occasionally.  Most of the time he used James' because Sirius would give him stupid ideas, saying he was going to be a 'roadie' for the Beatles, a muggle band that Carly told the three about.  Excuses were common for the dynamic duo, and they were glad to help out.  There wouldn't be a full moon for a while, though, so James, Sirius, and Remus used this night to explore the three passageways they found this year.  They discovered that other than the one that led to the kitchens, the other two led to Hogsmeade.  They also found out that night never to use one of them, because Filch knew where that one was, and constantly walked through there.  This, of course, earned them yet another detention.  

"Damn detentions, these days.  They're killing us… killing us I tell you!!" muttered Sirius as they entered the portrait hole.

"Yeah, we either need to get that map done as soon as possible, or find some way where we can go around and not be seen."

"Not be seen, not be seen…. Remmy you're brilliant!!! I knew I could count on you!" exclaimed James as he ran back up to the room.

"What do you think's the matter with him, Sirius?"

"I think he's hung out with me too much, that's what.  Going crazy."

"Oh… well that's normal.  Let's go bother the girls."

"Ok!"

James knew exactly what he wanted for his birthday.  He wrote a letter to his father saying that he wanted their prized family heirloom instead of buying him a new broomstick.  He saved up enough money from allowance to buy a new one, anyway.  He also gave his owl, named Ramrod (such a horrible name for an owl, but when you hang out with Sirius Black, you get used to it…. which the owl unfortunately did) specific instructions to only send it to his father.  If his mum had any idea what he wanted for his birthday, he would be in for it.  His mother never really did like him getting into trouble, but that's just how mum's are.  As Ramrod fluttered out of the window, James came back down, only to find his friends in deep conversation with Lily and her friends.  He shook his head and went over there.  He didn't really want to encounter Lily right now, but it was inevitable.  

"Potter, how nice of you to join us.  Wait.. you're not capable of being nice, are you."

"Evans, shut up."

"How original, but you know I can't resist annoying my favorite enemy."

"Favorite, huh? So I'm finally getting on your good side."

"Never will you ever see my good side."

"Good, I rather enjoy seeing you as evil anyway.  Gives me all more the reason to do this. _Topsy Turvilium." _This didn't really go exactly as planned.  When Lily levitated upside down, she complete did a cartwheel in mid-air and landed directly on her feet.

"That wasn't supposed to happen."

"Of course it wasn't, Potter."

"But-but…. how did you do that!"

"I taught you the curse, Potter…. you didn't say anything about the counter-curse, now did you?"

"Oh bloody hell."

"That's right you porcupined prat.  Now that you have pushed me, I get to return the favor….."

James closed his eyes, but ten seconds later, he opened them.

"I-I'm normal! I'm normal… ah ha Evans, looks like I am invincible! Muahahaha."

He then realized that the girls were no longer there, but saw Sirius and Remus glaring at him.

"Where'd they go, Remus?

"Lily whispered to them to go back to their rooms, and they all were smiling like they were gonna do something…. to us!"

"Yeah, Jamesy-boy, thanks a lot you dolt.  You have now managed to get us into trouble with them."  
"It's not my fault, what can girls do, anyway?!?"

"More than you know, James…. more than you know." said Remus.  All three of their faces turned pale as Remus said these words.  

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Lily and her friends went into their room, and all sat down in a circle.  From the look of Lily's face, all the girls felt that she had had enough of James and his antics.  They were listening to her fume.

"I can't believe that Potter!!! Trying to humiliate me like that.  He's such a.. .such a…"

"Loser?" said Jade.

"Self-conceited git?" replied Carly.

"Arrogant, immature, pathetic excuse for a human being?" piped Penny.

"Yes!!! All of those!!! Ladies… it's time we fight back."

"What do you mean?"

What do you mean, what do I mean!!"

Carly giggled.  "Wow try saying that three times fast." The three girls all tried doing it, but ended up stumbling the words and laughing, while Lily crossed her arms in impatience.

"Are you three stooges done yet?"

"Yeah, sorry, just wanted to lighten up the mood.  Carry on, Lils."

"Thank you Carly.  Now, the boys are known for their pranking right?"

"Right!"

"And other than the Slytherins, they have always managed to get us once in a while, right?"

"Wrong!"

"Wrong?!?!?! Penny what's so wrong about it."

"Lily, dearest, the correct wording of your last statement is that JAMES….. managed to get YOU….. once in a while, not us."

"Yeah, Penny's right." said Carly.  

"Yeah, don't get us into this whole mix just because you're in love with James." said Jade.

"I AM NOT IN LOVE WITH THAT… THAT… WHATEVER YOU THREE SAID EARLIER!"

"Are you always this articulate, Lily?"

"No, Jade, only when I'm horribly angry."

"Sure, James makes you a loss for words, doesn't he?"

"Jade, after I'm done with those three, I'll be glad to release my rage on you if you don't… shut… up!"

"Alright, I surrender.  Still, the boys have done nothing to us."

"Well then, let me take you back to out young days… using my superior acting skills."  Lily then stood up in the middle of the room.  "This is Jade." She then started walking around, but whenever she took a step down with her right foot, she keeled over and fell down.  

Jade scowled. "I'm in!"

"And now we turn our attention to Miss Atwater."  Lily dropped her wand, but when she bent over to pick it up, her fingers entangled themselves and she just merely pushed it around in a circle.

Carly was red with anger. "Me too!"

"But they didn't do anything to me, guys…." said Penny.

"Oh Penny, would you be a dear, and go check your drawers for your clothes, please?" said Lily. 

Penny fearfully walked up to her drawers.  As she opened the top, she gasped in fright.  Piles and piles of pennies were stacked inside of it.  She checked each one and got the same result.

"How did you know this, why didn't you tell me, Lily?!?!?!"

"I went to check your drawers to see if I could borrow a brush, and I thought you already knew.  That's why I brought you in here as well."

"Well, where are my clothes, exactly??"

"Use this and look outside the window." said Lily handing her a pair of binoculars.

"I don't see anything."

"Wrong way."

"Oh."  Penny turned it over, and then saw different garments of her clothing, hanging on each of the quidditch pitch hoops.  She then saw the Hufflepuff quidditch walk out onto the field for practice, and then double over in laughter when they saw her clothes.  She turned around with a fire in her eyes.

"THEY'RE…. GONNA…. PAY…"

Lily smiled.  "Good. So you're with me?"

"Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"So how are we gonna pull this off, knowing James and Sirius, they know every trick in the book by now." said Jade.

"Yes, but if you noticed, all of their pranks involve magic and hexes.  I don't think our boys have ever experienced, nor have they witnessed….. a full-fledged MUGGLE prank, eh Carly?" Lily winked at her.

"Right…. those pranks, though hard to plan, they are the worst.  Good idea, Lils."

"LET'S DO IT!" shouted Penny.

"Ok… it's gonna take time, but here's what we do." said Lily.  "Huddle up ladies…. it's time we took matters into our own hands."

All four girls smiled and huddled up beginning their evil plot on the fellow Gryffindor boys.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Meanwhile, in the guys' room………..

"James??"

"What, Sirius."

"I'm scared."

"Scared of what?? Look they can't do anything, if they do, we know what's gonna happen.  We know everything there is to know about pranks!"

"I don't know, James, never underestimate the strengths of a woman."

"It's people like you Remus, who bring us back to reality."

"I'm merely speaking the truth, look who we are talking about here.  These are four of the brightest students in our year.  If they put their heads together, there's no telling what they have in store."

"I'm gonna cry."

"Don't be such a baby, Sirius!" mocked James.  He too was definitely afraid of what might happen.  "Well, we do have an advantage, though.  At least we know that they're up to something."

"We just don't know what."

"Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of."

"Oh, no, James…. you're scared too??"

"Yeah, and it's ALLL thanks to our pal, Remus."

"You're welcome."

"Shut up.  Oh boy, what have I done?"

"This goes to show never to push redheads too far."

"Good words, Remmy, I'll write that down."

"Me too!!"  
"Uhh, Sirius, I think you should be more worried about Jade."

"You mean Chapstick?"

"I hope she's never heard you call her that before."

"Of course not… what am I stupid?"

"You sure you want me to answer that question."

"Shut up James. Jade can't do anything."

"She's just as worse as you are, Sirius."

"Are you serious?"

Silence.

"No, seriously, are you serious?

Yet, silence.

"Oh bloody hell, forget that stupid pun for once and answer the damn question!!!"

"Yes, dear Siri-boy, we are pretty serious." answered Remus.

"Oh no.  Maybe it was best if you didn't answer it."

"Well you said to…"

"I KNOW… what I said, Remus.  Shut up James." he said as an afterthought from James' snickering.

"Is that your favorite saying now Sirius?"

"What, you mean 'shut up James'?"

"Yeah."

"Sure is!! Borrowed it from Lily, she said that I could freely use it whenever I see fit."

"Damn her."

"Guys, let's just finish our homework and try to sleep our worries away.  I'm sure they're not gonna to us.  It's too late for girls, anyway."

"I thought you said to never underestimate them, Remus."

"Well, it doesn't hurt to once in a while." Remus smiled.  James and Sirius rolled their eyes, and as soon as they were finished with their homework, they drifted off to sleep, awaiting the upcoming weekend.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

As the sun began to rise, James, Sirius, and Remus were still asleep.  Peter and Frank decided to wake up early and get a head start on their potions essay, and both went down to the library, unaware of the events to come.  They both looked at the four girls with a weird expression on their faces, wondering why they were awake as well.  Alice decided to go with the two, but couldn't help but laugh.  She was informed of the prank, and was told to hold Peter and Frank off for a while.  When they left, they began working on the boys' door.  

James' alarm clock went off suddenly and he stirred awake.  _Wait… my alarm clock?!?! It's the weekend!! _ He slammed his hand on the clock to make the ringing stop.  He then tried to let go of it… but failed.  The clock clung onto his hand, as if it were glued to it.  He shook it and tried to pry it off, but it was no use.  James used his other hand to look for his glasses, but that got stuck on his glasses as well.  He put his glasses on, and managed to release his hand off of it, for there wasn't as many glue on the glasses… He put his hand to his forehead to ruffle his hair, but… it got stuck!! There was fresh glue on his forehead and his hand was now stuck.  

"AHHHHHHHHH!!!"

Sirius awoke with a startle and cracked up at the image of James.  "Boy, Lily got you good James."  He started groggily for the bathroom to go wash up and change.  James noticed a bucket on the top of the doorframe and tried to warn Sirius but it was too late.  As soon as Sirius opened the door, a bucket began to fall towards Sirius' head.  _It's only water. _ He thought.  Boy, was he wrong.  Cold, freezing milk splattered all over his body, and Sirius was wearing nothing but his boxers.  Both boys looked at each other and shook their heads, only to find Remus waking up to certain doom.  

Remus didn't' see the happenings, but just heard mutterings from James and Sirius.  He opened up the curtains on his bedpost, and put on his bed slippers.  His feet began to feel squishy, and he looked down.  Peanut butter covered every single inch of his slippers, and it was also on the inside.  He put his hands to his face, only to have peanut butter smeared all over his face, for there were on his hands as well.  The three boys looked at each other and nodded their heads.

"Girls." they said in a low tone.

James ran to the door, but couldn't' open it, due to the fact that his hands were stuck.  Sirius opened it for him and James walked out first.  His feet ran into a string that released two whipped cream pies coming at him from both of his sides, nailing him square on his cheeks.  Sirius walked out dripping wet, and Remus walked funnily on his heels, scowling.  They found Lily, Jade, Carly, and Penny all standing in the common room, smiling warmly at them.  "Good morning, boys!" they chorused.

"Good one, girls, really."

"Yeah, Remus is right.  This was genius!! Right, James?"

"I hate you Evans."

Lily gave a look of mock disappointment. "I'm hurt, Potter.  Really.  You got me right here." she said pointing to her heart.

"Save it… but yes, I have to agree that it was indeed a well-thought out prank."

"Thanks, but I hope you don't think it's over." said Penny.

"What." all three boys said.

"You hungry, boys?" piped up Jade.

"Yeah, we brought up early breakfast to make up for our wonderful prank." said Carly.  They moved to the side to reveal a whole feast of food on the fireplace table.

"Wow, thanks!" said the three boys, but was stopped when the girls got in their way.

"Like Penny said," interrupted Lily.  "It's not over.  Ladies???"

All four girls took out their wands and said.  "_TOPSY TURVILLIUM!"_ James, Sirius, and Remus soon found themselves upside down in the air, screaming like girls.  Lily and everyone else then smiled and each picked up a pie.

"Well, since they wanted breakfast…." said Jade.

"LET EM HAVE IT!!" they all said together, and began launching pies at the three boys.  James, Sirius, and Remus were pelted with all sorts of pies, ice cream, mayonnaise, the works.  They were helpless to do anything since they were upside down.  Peter then barged in, muttering something about forgetting his potions book, and was knocked in the face with a salad bowl with dressing in it by Penny.

"Oh! Sorry Pete!"  

"No.. get him in this too!" yelled Sirius.  "IT WAS HIS PENNIES THAT WE DUPLICATED!"  

Penny shot him a look to kill and started throwing multiple items of food at Peter.  Peter fought back, but it was basically him against the four girls.  The other three boys were helpless to do anything, and soon, all the food ended up all over the place, mostly on the four boys, and the common room was a complete mess.  The other Gryffindors who walked into the room were astonished at the sight of it, and points were taken off of Gryffindor by the prefects, much to their disgust.  They had to take points off their own house.  This was just completely outrageous to them!  A food fight in their own common room, really.  How childish.  However, they found it rather amusing in ways when they caught sight of the four boys all covered in food.  Anyway, they also ordered them to clean the common room for their punishment, but the girls were more than happy to do this, because they knew that they had gotten them back.  The boys, however, were angry at the fact they had to help, since they really weren't the causes of all this. Well, actually, they were, but they weren't the ones throwing the food around.  Still, the prefects said that since they were technically involved, they had to suffer the consequences by association.  Lily and the others smiled as they worked to clean the room, knowing one thing.

For once, James Potter, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin: masters of mischief, ringleaders of ruckus, and all around no good troublemakers, were finally put in their places, and fell victim to a perfect prank. Oh, what a wonderful day to be a lady.

Oh yeah, and Peter was caught in the middle as well. Can't forget him, now can't we.   

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Well I rather enjoyed  writing out this chapter.  It was really fun to write!!! Finally, they got what was coming to them, eh?  I'd say this chapter goes out to all the ladies out there.  Thank you… thank you.  It all just came to place as soon as I started typing.  More to come later!! Keep the reviews coming!!!   


	12. Complete

**ATTENTION.  JUNE 4, 2004 IS THE DATE FOR HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN MOVIE! CAN'T WAIT… THIS IS MY FAVORITE BOOK OF THE SERIES SO FAR, MAINLY BECAUSE IT INTRODUCES THE MARAUDERS AS A WHOLE… WITH MOONY, WORMTAIL, PADFOOT, AND PRONGS.  I CAN'T WAIT!! YEAH! ANYWAY ON WITH THE STORY**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the weekend past, things got back to normal.  For James, Sirius, and Remus, however, they experienced a different perspective after a notorious prank.  For the entire weekend, the three boys were now known for falling victim to the prank that Lily and her friends pulled on them.  Remus was salty about it, but got over it good-naturedly in a day.  James and Sirius… well they didn't  For the entire weekend they moped around the castle, without the life and energy they once had.  The two boys were being laughed AT, instead of the ones that the school was laughing with.  In fact, on that same night when the Gryffindor girls walked into the Great Hall, the entire school pretty much heard about it and clapped.  The Gryffindors gave a standing ovation for the four girls.  Even the Slytherins clapped a little.  I mean, it was a good prank..  "The best of the year." a Hufflepuff shouted.  James and Sirius didn't take this comment too lightly, and they moped around because of it.  Remus tried to cheer them up but it was no use.  It seemed as if James Potter and Sirius Black have lost their touch.  During class, they didn't even get into trouble once in all three of their classes.  Even Lily, Penny, Carly, and Jade were concerned at this.  They felt bad, but then again, they felt good because of all the attention.  That and the fact that they finally got their revenge on the three Gryffindor boys.  After classes James, Sirius, and Remus went down to the common room to work on the dreaded potions essay that was due the next day.  Their discussion wasn't on potions, though.

"I don't believe this.  This sucks." muttered James.

"Yeah I know.  We're the laughing stock of the school!" replied Sirius.

"Aww come on, mates, it was only a joke.  It was a good one too you have to admit that.  Besides, you have always been the laughing stock of the school!"

"Yes we already established the fact that it was a good prank.   Still though, before we were the ones that caused the laughing.  We weren't necessarily the reason for it.  I don't know… it just feels… it feels different."

"Feels different because we got beaten.  You know, I can't believe it.  We got beaten by girls."

"What did I tell you before, Sirius, we didn't get beaten by any ordinary girls.  Those four are the best of the best.  Lily Evans is already a shoe-in for Head Girl!!!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" was all that James could say.  He didn't want to think about 'that Evans girl' right now.  He totally despised her after seeing her smiling face… well to him it was a frown because he was floating with his head closest to the ground.  "I don't know…. I don't think this pranking business is any fun anymore. Maybe we should give up."

"JAMES HOW COULD YOU SAY SUCH A THING!" shouted Sirius.  Everyone else in the common room looked at him like he was crazy, so he shrunk back in his chair.  

"James… don't say that.  This can't come from you.  You're our leader." said Remus.

"Yeah, but… how can we top them?  The only way to claim our place back is if we beat them.  I don't know if we can do that anymore."

"Come to think of it, I can't think of any pranks anymore."

"Me neither."  mentioned Sirius.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For the rest of the week, the three boys did nothing but behave.  They stayed quiet in class, and took notes when they were awake.  Remus tried to get the boys together again, but it was no use.  The magic in James and Sirus' eyes were gone, and it forced Remus to go into a bad mood as well.  The girls then began to worry about the guys.  They didn't think they would take it this bad.  They couldn't help but feel guilty for what they did after a week went by, and there was no sign of mischief anywhere coming from the boys.  Lily, Jade, Carly, and Penny missed the old trio.  The ones that always got them all riled up.  They especially missed the way James and Sirius would make them laugh.  Jade always counted on Sirius to make her day with a good joke or two, or by just being stupid and daft.  Even Lily, as much as she despised James, missed him terribly.  The glow in his eyes was no longer there, and she missed the way he annoyed her.  She couldn't hate him if he didn't do anything to her.  Remus was somewhat normal, but the familiar happiness he had was still missing in his eyes.  He barely said anything when he talked to Carly, and this troubled her.  For once, they knew the reason why Remus was sometimes moody.  Because of the recent absence of havoc, the Slytherins took advantage of this and ridiculed James and his group at every chance they got.  Instead of retaliating, all they did was walk by without saying a word.  It got worse, and they began to spread rumors about the three.  This was not accepted by Lily and her friends, and they confronted them right away.  With their new reputation, the Slytherins knew to not mess with them in public, but they had plans for them later on.  The Gryffindor girls told them off for saying such horrible things, and Carly even slapped Lucius Malfoy in the face because of the things he said about Remus.  Lucius didn't take this lightly and lunged at the girl, only to be hexed by Lily.  The Slytherins wanted revenge alright, and they were gonna get by the end of the year.

The three boys needed someone, or something to cheer them up.  Obviously, they couldn't do it themselves, and they most certainly didn't want the girls to do anything.  Just looking at them brought back memories for James and Sirius, especially.  They never really guessed that their prayers would be answered in the form of a small, chubby, boy with blonde hair named Peter Pettigrew.  If you remember, Peter was involved in the food fight, and he wanted to get the girls back.  He secretly planned some pranks himself for the girls, and it was all going to fall into place as soon as the girls walked into the Great Hall for dinner.  Peter walked in and sat next to the boys, snickering.

"What's the matter with you, Pete?"

"Nothin, James, I just can't wait for the girls to get here."

"Ohh.. fancy one of them, eh Pete."

"Shut up Sirius… only you would come up with something like that."

"So why are you waiting for them anyway?" asked Remus.

"Ohh you'll see…."

Lily, Jade, Carly, and Penny walked in the Great Hall and right away everyone turned to look at them with wide eyes.  Slight giggles turned into snickers.  Snickers turned into chuckles.  Chuckles turned into laughter, and finally, it wasn't just laughing.  Most people in the Great Hall could hardly breathe from cracking up.  Lily's arms began to bulge, swelling up into three balls, and her chin stuck out…. she looked like a redheaded Popeye the Sailor Man.  The other three girls swelled up, too growing larger until they were six foot tall.  Their arms bulged as well, but not like Lily's, and they started to grow tons and tons of facial hair.  Penny, Carly, and Jade were trying to  scream out loud, but all they did was sing the theme song to popeye… with Lily 'toot-toot'-ing on her cue with a pipe that appeared in her mouth.  As soon as they finished, Lily let out a 'toot-toot' and a type of smoke came out of it shaping into letters that said:

Brought to you by: PP 

James, Sirius, Remus all turned their heads to each other, and started bursting out laughing.  The other students were laughing as well, and the four girls ran back to the dorms in embarrassment.  Peter merely smiled as the three boys turned towards him.

"You did that, Pete?" asked James.

"Of course, why do you think it said P.P.?"

"Ohhhhhh, so it stands for Peter Pettigrew!"

"Exactly."  
"That was bloody brilliant, Peter." mentioned Remus.

"Yeah, never knew ya had it in ya!"

"R-r-really?? You really mean it Sirius? Remus?"  The two boys nodded happily.

"You think so too, James?"  

"OF COURSE PETE!  That was just what we needed.  We forgot that you were in the room as well during the food melee.  Pete, how come you never told us you were so good at pranking like this?"

"Well…. I figured you three wouldn't take anyone else in, since you were so happy together.  I hung out with Frank, but now that he's with Alice, he's becoming some sort of a sap with all the kissing and hugging.  I felt really alone for a while, but when you guys asked if you could borrow a few of my muggle money, I was glad to help.  Then when I got pelted by Penny, I knew that I had to do something after seeing you guys not doing anything.  So I did!"

"Wow, Pete, that was just fantastic.  Still, though, all you had to do was just come up to us.  We would've taken you in, regardless if you were good or not at pranking." said James.

"Yeah, besides, I had a feeling that the three of us just didn't seem fit." said Sirius.  "I mean, yeah we were a good team, but I don't know, it just didn't feel like we were great, yet."

"Nonsense!!! You, James, and Remus are the greatest troublemakers ever to step foot in this castle!" exclaimed Peter.  

"Nah, I think now with this prank, Pete, a new beginning is at hand.  Pete, the only thing I regret is not being able to let you join us until now.  Welcome to the group, Peter!" shouted James.

Peter blushed as he happily got patted on the back by all three boys.  They walked back to the rooms, and once inside they saw the four girls and immediately dashed for their dorms before Lily and her friends could lay their hands on them.  They were fuming with anger and knew exactly who 'PP' was.  For hours, James and the others told Peter about their adventures and secret passageways.  Remus reluctantly told him about his secret, and at first he took it the wrong way.  He called Remus a monster, and this earned stern looks from the boys.  He quickly apologized however and said that he was just acting off of impulse.  He didn't really mean what he said.  Remus forgave him because he was a very forgiving guy.  James and Sirius decided to forget it ever happened and forgave Peter as well.  

Days past, and the four boys were back in action.  They started little by little --- throwing dungbombs at Filch, cursing Slytherins food to avoid their utensils when they tried to eat it, turning Lily's hair into a spaghetti-like substance (this was James' idea) --- slowly but surely, the three along with the accompany of Peter started getting back into the game.  The girls noticed this and were happy to see them back in action again.  The boys were full of happiness, and it radiated throughout the whole group of first-years.  Even Lily had to smile to herself when she saw the James' beaming smile before she chased him around the room in a fury. They were back.  Still, the boys couldn't think of a prank that would top the girls' prank, but they weren't worried about that now.  They were just happy to be back to their normal, weird, stupid selves (minus Remus on the 'stupid' part… most of the time anyway) and knew that the day would come when they would get the girls back, thereby claiming back their rightful reputation as the greatest pranksters in Hogwarts.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Sorry, short chapter.  Couldn't think of anything else really, and I felt as if it was the proper ending anyway.  More to come soon!! Reviews are still up and positive.  Thanks a bunch.  Peace.**   


	13. Lesson Learned From Sheriff Bob

The end of the year was coming up, and everyone was studying for their final exams.  Well, everyone except for James and Sirius of course.  They claim that because of their high intelligence, they felt no need to take the time to go over and review their lessons and notes.  They expect that they would get good grades without even studying, which to Lily Evans, was absolutely outrageous.  She called them 'arrogant thick prats'.  Time after time, Lily would scold the two boys to study and go over their materials. "Why can't you be like Remus?" is what she would say, but they would just ignore her and tell her to sod off.  James even went too far as to hex Lily's notes so that there wouldn't be any words on her parchments.  He quit this technique on his first attempt, after getting slapped in the back of the head numerous times by the fiery-tempered redhead, and never did it again.  Peter began to hang around the three boys more often, and because of it, his grades were improving just a tad, thanks to the help of his buddy Remus Lupin.  Remus diligently studied and helped whoever asked him too, which was mainly Peter.  Sometimes you would see him and Carly going over their studies, but just end up joking around or 'flirting' as the rest of the group would say.  Jade and Penny studied as well, but sometimes could be seen conversing with a couple of second and third years here and there, which was appalling to Lily.  She felt that there should be no room for boys at this time of age, even though she herself caught the attention of a few…. okay a lot of boys in her own right.  Let's face it, the red hair, the sparkling green eyes, the dashing smile, Lily was gorgeous… and she was only eleven.  A certain messy-haired boy with glasses usually pondered on how Lily would look in their later years, and when he imagined it, it was a sight to see.  Then about five seconds later, he would shake that thought out of his mind mumbling to himself something about being a 'bloody crazy bat'.  Anyhow, the exams were coming up, and everyone was getting prepared in their own way.  Soon the year would be over, and they all would go home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lucius Malfoy didn't forget the day that Carly slapped him in the face in front of all of the entire class.  He was very livid about it, and vowed to get revenge on her and the rest of the Gryffindor girls.  Even though it pleased him when they found out that Potter and his gang were humiliated, he, along with Severus and Rodolphus, had just about enough of hearing about those pestering girls and their 'prank of the year'.  They decided that they should take them out, once and for all, and give the school something else to remember them by.  One night, the day before the exams, they snuck into the Gryffindor common room, after sneaking up behind a Prefect and overhearing the password 'pawn cakes'.  Severus and the other three were very smart wizards as well, and cast a silencing charm on the whole room.  They then snuck into the girls' dorm and cast a powerful slumber charm on all five of the girls in the room.  They then brought out a red substance and Lucius began writing on the wall, as Severus and Lestrange started trashing the place.  They shattered glass, threw aside pictures, rubbed make-up all over the girls' faces, and threw their clothes in random places.  When Lucius was done, they began to file out, but Severus stopped to take one last look at Lily, admiring how peaceful she was when she was sleeping.  The others bonked him on the head, stopping his gazing and began to rush out of the room.  While he backed away from Lily's curtains, his robe got stuck and he yanked it out, leaving a piece of it hanging on her curtain bedpost.  He went to retrieve it, but Lucius and Rodolphus yanked him out of the room, saying that the spell was going to wear off soon on the entire room.  He left along with the other three snickering and praising themselves for a job well done, but Severus placed the memory of a sleeping Lily Evans in his mind, and thought about it as he drifted off to sleep in his own common room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Each of the five girls shrieked as they woke up, causing everyone in the Gryffindor Tower to burst awake, including James and Sirius.  They burst out the door and went into the girls' dorms to see what was wrong.  They, along with Remus, Peter, and Frank following closely behind, pushed through the crowd, and gasped at what they saw.  The room was a mess.  Clothes were scattered here and there.  Mirrors were shattered, and the girls' faces were covered up in make-up, and they looked hideous.  Each of the five girls were sobbing uncontrollably, comforting each other.  The make-up smeared all over their faces, making them look worse.  Carly and Lily were shaking in fear, and this worried James.  He had never seen Lily at her weak point, and this was astonishing.  Lily was always strong and never showed any signs of weakness or fear.  Now, however, Lily was crying.  James couldn't believe it.  He stood there speechless while Sirius and Remus, both red with anger, went to go comfort Jade and Carly.  Frank went to Alice and rocked her back and forth, kissing her forehead and stroking her hair.  Peter, who was shivering in horror as well, managed to keep his composure and went to Penny's aid.  James just stared at Lily in awe.  On one side of his mind, he was still amazed to see that Lily, smeared in make-up with tears in her eyes, was still as radiant as ever.  The other side, however, was blazing in a fury.  How could someone do this? The girls never did anything this bad to anybody.  They didn't deserve this.  He walked in the room slowly, and Lily looked into his eyes.  His eyes were full of concern, and Lily found comfort in his eyes.  He didn't have to go and hug her and tell her that everything will be alright.  His eyes said all those things to her, and she managed a small smile, before her eyes welled up and tears started to fall again as she looked to her left.  He looked at the other four boys, along with everyone else in the room, and they were all looking at the same thing.  Each and every one of their faces look horrified and angry at what was on the wall.  James now faced the same spot where they were facing and slowly read these terrible words:

**A MESSAGE TO THOSE WHO LOOK AT THIS WALL**

**THAT MUDBLOODS DON'T BELONG IN THIS SCHOOL AT ALL**

**AND THOSE WHO ARE FRIENDS WITH THE DESPICABLE CREW**

**WILL SUFFER THE SAME FATE AS THESE MUDBLOODS HERE DO**

Lily and Carly took it the hardest, with them being muggle-born.  Soon every single Gryffindor was inside the room, and a quite a few people were crying when they read the message.  This scene was horrendous, and Sirius couldn't take it anymore.

"WHO DID THIS!!!!!!!!!!"

Remus tried to calm his buddy down, but he was as angry as he was too.  Sirius was waving his hands frantically in the air, screaming the same three words.  His temper was lost, and there was no holding back.   He turned and searched everywhere for any suspicious faces.  When he turned back around, he came across James' face and looked at him, as he looked back.  They looked at each other for about another minute, and this act alone calmed Sirius down.  James nodded his head, and Sirius went back to comforting Jade.  James walked around Lily's curtains, and found a piece of black cloth caught in one of the ringlets of her bedpost.  He ripped it off, and put it in his robes, thinking that it might be something important.  The prefects led everyone back into their respectable dorms, and then took the five girls to see Dumbledore.  The five boys went as well, upon the girls' request, and this would be their first encounter with the headmaster.  All ten Gryffindors were nervous, but the five girls were still shivering from the incident, while the boys tried their best to comfort them.  James walked next to Lily, but dared not make a move to touch or comfort her.  They walked up to a gargoyle statue, and as the prefects said the password, they walked up the stairs and entered an office that made their eyes widen.  The room was magnificent, with many pictures, books, and even a baby phoenix that looked like he had just been born quietly screeching on a perch.  Professor Dumbledore turned to face the students.

"May I help you?"

James took this opportunity to speak.  He didn't trust Sirius with his temper, Remus and Frank were too busy holding Carly and Alice, and Peter, along with the girls, was shivering.

"Yes, Professor.  See there's been an attack."

"I beg your pardon?" Dumbledore said standing up from his chair.

"Well not really an attack. More of some sort of… scandal."

Dumbledore sat back on his chair.  "Please explain, Mr. Potter."

James then began describing the room in perfect detail… and recited the inscription that was written on the wall, and mentioned that it almost looked as if it were written in blood.  Dumbledore's face was calm and collective, yet James could see a slight hint of anger in his eyes.  James cowered a little, but never faltered in his words.  Dumbledore looked at James and listened intently.  He stared deep into James' eyes as he told his story.  This was the first time a student did not stutter or act nervous around him, and he admired the boy in front of him.  By stepping up to tell what happened, James proved to Dumbledore and his true leadership and bravery, qualities that made Dumbledore say to himself…. _Ah yes, this boy will bring wonders to this world._After James finished his story, he understood why this boy in front of him was chosen to be in Gryffindor and reminded himself to research something later on when he had spare time.  He then looked all around the room at the rest of the faces.  He stared at the remaining four boys, and smiled a little at them for being there to comfort the girls.  He then looked at each of the girls with sad eyes, but noticed how they tried to fight back tears with all their might.  When he finally set his eyes on Lily, he took a deep breath at what he saw.  Lily was standing with a serious face.  She was the only one that stopped crying and was looking straight into Dumbledore's eyes.  She showed strength in her expression… that she could overcome anything.  This also caused Dumbledore to believe that she too would be a mighty asset to the world in the future along with James.  _Imagine if the two were to be together… who knows what amazing things they could do.  _He then stood back up and began to speak to James.

"Do you have any idea who did this?"

"No, Professor, not a clue."

"And the rest of you??"  Each of them shook their heads slightly, knowing that they didn't know as well.

"We'll act on this right away.  I will send your Head Professor and your prefects to investigate right away on this situation.  For now, girls, you will have to reside in the common room.  When you return from dinner tonight, all of your things will be located by the fireplace along with five mattresses.  You will remain there until your room has been confiscated and cleaned up.  Prefects, please escort these first years back to the dormitories.  I assume you five won't be coming down for breakfast today? Dumbledore addressed to the five girls.  They all smiled up at him gratefully and nodded their heads.

"Very well.  Prefects, as soon as breakfast is over, you will go straight to the Tower.  I will send excuse notices to each of your professors explaining your absence in class, and I am sure they will accommodate with you with the necessary time to make up your work.  Exams are coming up, after all, and I don't want this to distract you from your studies."

He then looked at Lily.

"Miss Evans, at any time from now until the end of the term, you and your fellow house mates are more than welcome to drop by my office and talk about anything you desire.  My office will always be open unto you all, and I will be more than happy to discuss your private matters and give advice when needed.  You may leave, now."

"Yes Professor." they all chorused.

The girls walked back and were still somewhat in shock.  They stayed in the common room and soon their crying died down.  James and the other boys brought up food from the Great Hall so that they wouldn't miss breakfast entirely.  James sat next to Lily, but she snapped at him.

"What the hell do you want, Potter."

"Nothing, I'm just seeing if you wanted to talk about things."

"No, if I wanted to talk to you, I would've asked you to, now go away."

James reluctantly left her side, while the other boys were busy cheering up the girls again with their goofy antics and lame jokes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Days past, and there was no evidence revealing who terrorized the girls' dorm.  James still had the piece of cloth with him, but decided that maybe it was just part of the mess.  Jade and Penny returned back to their normal selves, but Carly and Lily were still a little moody.  Carly seemed to be shaken up a little at the event, but Remus helped her to slowly change back to her regular self again, with their late talks at night, and conversations whenever they had spare time. Lily took Dumbledore's request and went to go visit the headmaster one day.  

"Ah, yes, Miss Evans, how may I be of your service?"

"Hello professor, I just came by well… because…"

"Because you need someone to talk to about the incident?"

"Y-yes Profesor." Lily was astonished that he managed to take the words right out of her mouth, as if he was reading her mind.

"Well, Miss Evans, sit down and feel free to talk to me about whatever is on your mind."

Lily talked about being muggle-born, and how much it hurt when she read the inscription.  She told him that she didn't know if she could take the pain and pressure anymore, and that she doubted herself and her skills as a witch.  She poured out her heart to the professor, who listened intently to the amazing student who sat in front of him.  When she finished, he finally spoke to her.

"Miss Evans, I have been told by your professors that you have managed to remain at the top of your classes for the entire year, am I correct?" Lily blushed and nodded faintly.

"Well, to me, Miss Evans, it's as if you yourself is the very thing that's holding you back.  You have the abilities and the work ethic to become a great witch indeed.  Your intelligence is far superior from the rest, and I feel that with that same intelligence you'll be able to find… other ways to… fight your fears and doubts."

Lily looked at Professor Dumbledore with complete admiration in her eyes.  He made her feel a lot better, and with all those flattering comments, she felt more confident.  

"Thank you, Professor."

"You're welcome, Miss Evans.  Oh, it's almost time for dinner.  I believe that our conversation ends here, am I correct?"

Once again, reading her mind. "Yes, Professor."

"Very well, you may go." Dumbledore said.  He looked at her as she left and smiled to himself.   He watched the student that just sat before him in great admiration.  There was something about her that was so unique.  It sent shivers down his spine when he thought about what she could do when she learned to harness her abilities. _Reminds me a lot of Mr. Potter. _he thought and once again chuckled as he went to go tend to the phoenix on the perch. 

Lily came back out feeling much better, but still confused.  His words were comforting, yet she couldn't quite grab the whole concept.  She spent the rest of the day pondering the words of advice she got from her headmaster.

"… I feel that with that same intelligence you'll be able to find…other ways to… fight your fears and doubts."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~__

Dinner past, and Lily was still thinking about her meeting with Dumbledore as she entered the common room.  The entire group gathered for a study session they planned in the morning, but Lily couldn't concentrate.  She was still trying to understand Dumbledore's words.  James noticed the look of confusion on Lily's face.  He sat next to her, and before she could lash out at him again, he said,

"Is it okay for me to sit here?"

Lily glared at him, but saw the look of unsureness in his face.  She then gave a slight nod to him and he smiled.

"So, what's on your mind, Evans?"

"Well, it's really none of your business."

"Sorry, I was just asking." James hung his head down.

"No, I apologize, I haven't been very civil lately."

"Exactly, that's why I know something's been on your mind."

"Well, yeah s-s-something has."

Everyone looked up at Lily and stopped to listen to what she was about to say.  She became nervous when everyone decided to join in on the discussion but she went on anyway.  Lily told them everything that she talked to with Dumbledore, and they graciously listened, never bothering to interrupt.  She poured her heart out again, for the second time, this time to her friends.  Lily also mentioned the advice that Dumbledore gave to her hoping that maybe one of them could understand it, but when she looked up, most of them had the same bewildered face that Lily had when she walked out of Dumbledore's office.  She looked around the room and finally at the boy next to her, who had his hand slightly raised, as if he wanted to say something.

"Ummm… would you like to say anything, Potter?" she asked.

James smiled.  "Yeah, uhh… I think I know what Dumbledore is trying to say."

Everyone then turned to him and leaned in closer.  James felt uncomfortable with this and leaned back.  He didn't know what to do so he just said anything. "Easy, guys, I broke a dungbomb on my shirt earlier and it wreaks."  This caused them to jump back, and James laughed at them.  Lily glared and slapped him on the shoulder.  "You were saying??" shot Lily. 

"Oh yeah, well, umm… my Mum told me this when I was around seven years old.  See my friend died a couple months back and I was moping around for a week."  The others had sad looks on their faces…. except for Sirius, who started snickering.

"Oh you mean your invisible friend, Sheriff Bob?" interrupted Sirus.  

James shot him a look as his nostrils flared.  "Shut up, you idiot!!"  But it was too late.  Everyone started rolling around in laughter while James blushed in embarrassent.  After about a minute or so, everyone stopped laughing and listened to him again.

"Anyway, back to what I was saying before I was rudely interrupted!!" he looked at Sirius again who gave him a grin. "Sher… Sherriff Bob… died after I've known him for three years.  He was very special to me at the time, because he was always there for me as a friend, kinda how like you all are right now.  Whenever I turned around, he would always be there, and it made me feel better to know that he was always there.  When he died, my mum hugged me close, and she said something that I swore to myself I would never forget.  **_"Don't let your past be who you are, but let it be a part of what you become."_**I didn't get it at first, but then she slowly told me what she meant.  She meant that I shouldn't live off of the past.  Instead of crying over him, I should take what I learned from him and use it for my life.  That no matter what…. I would always be there when my friends needed someone.  That whenever they turn around, they would always see me, and be happy that I'm there.  You understand??"

Everyone was now silent, and looking at James with intense eyes.  The humor of the story was gone.  Each nodded their heads distinctly, confirming the answer to his question.  James turned to Lily.

"Right, anyway, what Dumbledore is trying to say, Evans, is that you shouldn't let the incident affect your abilities.  He says that you should use what you learn from before, and make you strong instead of weak.  Your intelligence is what's going to fight back, not your anger.  Use your intelligence….. to prove that whoever wrote that message is wrong.  Muggle-borns DO have a right to attend Hogwarts, just like everybody else.  This goes for all of you too.  Prove them wrong.  Show how strong your friendship is with each other, instead of letting it fall apart.  Evans, you know by now that I myself am a pure-blood, right?"

"Right." said Lily.

"Well, you always seem to find it a pleasure competing with me for top grades and the exams are coming up."

"Umm.. yeah."  

"You want to beat me, don't you." James was persuading Lily to challenge him.

"It would be a pleasure." she said with a low tone.

"You want to see if you, a muggle-born, could possibly beat a pureblood like me, correct?"

"Yes… Potter what are you getting at!" She shouted now in frustration.

"Prove it."  

With these two words, the look on Lily's face changed from anger to understanding.  James searched the others for their faces, and it looked as if they too, understood the point that he was trying to make. He continued.

"Show those prats what a muggle-born and their friends can do. Let them forever remember… who Lily Evans, Jade Chapman, Carly Atwater, and Penelope Hunsworth are.  THAT'S what Dumbledore wanted you to understand, Evans.  THAT'S EXACTLY…. what true Gryffindors would do."

With a nervous voice, he then asked, "So… did I make any sense to you guys?  Does it relate to what you were saying, Evans?"

Lily looked up at James with her sparkling eyes.  "Yes.  Couldn't have put it better myself."

James smiled and the others then began thinking of what James' speech meant for themselves.  A moment later, everyone was smiling at each other, and nodded at James, who let out a sigh of relief.

"Well, that's good then.  You may now return to your regular scheduled study group."

They all laughed at James and went back to studying.  Suddenly, Lily spoke up. 

 "Potter."

James looked up at Lily, dreading what she was going to say next.  She was probably going to say she was joking that she understood, or give him hell about his imaginary friend, Sheriff Bob.   He didn't know what to do as Lily breathed in to begin……..

"Thanks." she said.

James beamed at her and went back to reading his notes, while Lily did the same.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That night, Lily couldn't sleep, thought it wasn't because she was thinking about the incident.  No, not anymore…. that will never force her to stay awake again.  She was thinking about James.  She now had a newfound respect for him.  Yes, she still hated him with a passion, but not as much as before.  She didn't think of him as some sort of daft idiot anymore.  She now thought of James as someone who was smart.. and with a good head on his shoulders.  Once again, he found the right words to say to her when she needed it…. and he made it look like he wasn't even remotely trying.  Before the boys left for their room, James pulled her aside and told her to never forget Dumbledore's words, just as he never forgot his mum's words.  She agreed to this, and he was right.  Moments before she went to sleep, she promised to never forget the words of her headmaster.  However, she also made ANOTHER promise…. to never forget the words of James Potter.  Sure….  it was Dumbledore who comforted her… made her think.. made her feel better…….

but it was James Potter….. who made her understand. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Truly a deep chapter….   I hope that you all understood what I wrote, because if not, then I have failed miserably in a successful plot.  This was very hard to write in the beginning, due to all the sadness… but as I let James' words speak for itself, it became more sensible… more comforting.  I enjoyed writing this chapter… Now I'm hoping you enjoy it as well. Peace.**


	14. Bighead vs Redhead

**THE PEOPLE WHO INSPIRED ME TO CONTINUE:**

**brunet-barbie-84  
sugar cherries  
Liz  
DemonAngi  
aniangel  
Trenbling Cheeks  
LJ Fan  
Ronzangel  
Angel Flower  
Golden Ice Cream  
Tiger Lily  
brit  
Bridget Vreeland  
nailclipper  
StRaWbErrY KaWAii  
Anna Black  
Reviewer  
person  
---- These are all my reviewers ---- Thank you all.**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The mystery of the Gryffindor Girl Scandal hasn't been solved yet, and the end of the year is approaching.  Besides the ongoing investigation of the scandal, many events have occurred over the past month and a half.  First of all, the quidditch final turned out to be a whopper, with Slytherin and Ravenclaw battling for the top spot.  Gryiffindor lost to Hufflepuff in a very competitive game two weeks before, and Hufflepuff claimed a consolation third prize, homework passes for each class to be used once a day.  Of course, the professors charmed the passes so that if a student tried to duplicate it or do anything of that sort, the pass will explode and a loud voice will holler through the room, shouting at how incredibly brainless the person is for trying such a thing, which very often led to a detention.  There has already been a few of those already, and the Hufflepuffs decided to just use all the passes and take a free day off one day.  Anyway, back to the quidditch final, the favored Ravenclaws were up against the hated Slytherins, a typical good guy/bad guy scenario.  Everyone in the stands cheered for the Ravenclaw team, but it was the Slytherins that came out on top.  The final score of the final game was 210-190.  The Slytherins caught the snitch first, therefore beating the Ravenclaws, who dominated the quaffle play before the snitch was caught.  Many of the students were disappointed, but took the loss accordingly, and ignored the boastful remarks of all the Slytherins throughout the week.  The second place Ravenclaws, as a prize other than the mini-trophies they received, was an unlimited supply of free coupons to all the stores of Hogsmeade for a day.  They were to leave as a team at any day, and use all the coupons in one day.  After twenty-four hours, the coupons would namely be turned to shreds of paper, so this forced the team to use them all.  The Slytherins boasted and jaunted everyone from class to class, always claiming that they were the best of the four.  This angered everyone, particularly four boys from Gryffindor.  They wanted to get hex the good, but they didn't want to risk a detention because it would mean less time to cram for the finals.  James and Sirius actually started to study now, deflating their big heads and bearing down on the books.  James had a particular reason for studying.  He wanted to be at this best, so that it would make a redhead push herself harder to achieve top marks, for it would be between her and James, them being the top students in their year.  Sirius, well Sirius just got bored, so decided to study for the heck of it.  Still, the four boys kept on the lookout for any suspicions and clues that would lead to the incident in the girls' dorm, which was finally cleaned up, so that the five could settle in again.  Surprisingly, James and Lily stopped their daily bantering at each other, and managed to study together.  James helping Lily out with Transfiguration, and Lily helping James with Charms.  A mutual respect dawned between the two, and both wanted to make sure that their counterpart was ready for the exams, so that they could battle it out in their best forms when the time came.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, the time has come.

The week of exams was a tough one.  First, they had Herbology.  Peter excelled in this subject and was prepared.  The others were well-prepared alsol, and managed to get high scores in the subject.  In the competition of James vs. Lily… Lily won scoring three percent higher than James, earning the top grade in the class.

In Charms, Lily completely dominated this exam, and tore it apart, not literally.  She flew through the exam with poise and handed it in with plenty of time to spare.  James managed to get a high score for himself, but was down two-nothing to Lily.  He would be confident the next day, though, because those were his two best subjects.

Transfiguration was next, and what Lily did in Charms, James did the same in this class.  He flew through the test with ease and turned it in in thirty minutes.  Lily got the second highest once again, but was followed closely behind by Sirius Black and her best friends, Jade and Carly, who excelled as well.

In Defense Against the Dark Arts, neither James nor Lily got top marks, but it was a tie between Remus Lupin, Sirus Black, and Jade Chapman for the top score in the class.  Everyone got a high score though, so all were pleased.  The battle between Evans and Potter was still 2-1 in favor of Lily.

James narrowly beat Lily in History of Magic beating her by two percent.   The score was now 2-2, and only one subject was left for the week.  Sirius, Jade, and the rest of the group shook their heads at the boy and the girl studying vigorously for the potions exam.  They had their own discussion while the two studied separately, and talked about who would be the best man and bridesmaids for their wedding.  Once in a while, they talked a little too loud and had to scatter because James and Lily would start trying to hex them.  As soon as they realized what they were doing, both stopped and retreated back to their respective books, studying hard for the final exam.  

"Boy, those two sure are competitive." said Jade.

"Yeah, I've never seen James this serious… not even in quidditch." mentioned Sirius.

"Like we all said, they're in love." gushed Carly and Penny.

"Still, though, they shouldn't treat the exams as competition." said Alice.  "The exams aren't a game."

"No…. it's not a game.  It's a test.  I know what James is doing." said Frank.

"Yes, me too.  He's pushing Lily.  He's making her work harder than ever before.  James indeed is a smart boy.  He's using their rivalry against each other, in order to actually help Lily out." explained Remus.

"Well, I think it's vice versa too.  Lily is also forcing James to work hard as well.  I think this is the first time James has been challenged, and from what Sirius tells me, he doesn't like to lose." said Jade.

"So Jade, you talking to Sirius lately, haven't you." winked Penny.

"Ewww no!!!"

"Of course, my dear Penny.  Jade has finally discovered that I'm just irresistible." He then struck a pose…. a very odd and stupid one that caused everyone to burst out laughing.  He then started looking at Jade in a seductive manner, and Jade scowled.

"Sirius Black, don't you dare look at me like that.  I swear, I will stick your wand up your nose and make it come out of your rear."

"So… thinking about my rear end, eh?"

"OH MY GOD!! EWWW!  Never in my life.  I'm gonna kill you."

"You know you look extremely cute when you threaten me like that."

Instead of threatening Sirius again, she blushed furiously, hearing Sirius call her cute.  Sirius blushed as well as soon as he said it.

"Oh my goodness… it's James and Lily 2!"  piped Peter.

"Shut up Pete!!!!!!!!!!!!" Peter backed away because not only did it come from Sirius and Jade, it came from James and Lily as well.

"Oh boy… this is going to be a looooooooooong night." said Remus, as they all went back to studying.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The potions exam was finished and both James and Lily looked extremely pleased with themselves.  The others thought that they earned decent scores, but doubted it due to the fact that Professor Coggins probably graded unfairly since they were Gryffindors.  He then stood up from his desk as to announce something.

"Students, I'm pleased to inform you on who the top scorer in the potions exam is."  This caused Lily and James to jump up in excitement.

"All of you have done very well, to my surprise.  Even you Gryffindors have managed to hold your own."  The Gryffindors glared.  

"Except for Mr. Pettigrew, who will have to take remedial potions with me along with the regular class next year."  Peter slumped in his chair, while Remus, who was sitting next to him, patted his back in comfort, and James and Sirius glared at the snickering Slytherins.

"However, I am happy to announce that the top potions student in the class belongs to……"  James and Lily were on the edge of their seats…………………..

"Severus Snape!!"  All of the mouths of the Gryffindor ten dropped open, as Snape smiled while the other Slytherin whooped and cheered in encouragement, then turning back to stick their tongues out at the angry Gryffindors.  They all went off to dinner, but James and Lily were sulking terribly.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE WE LOST TO THAT SLIMY GIT, SNAPE!" shouted James.

"Well, looks like we're tied, eh Potter."

"Guess so.  I'd say it was fun while it lasted."

"Yeah, maybe we'll do it again sometime."

"Maybe."  They shook hands and gave a slight smile to each other.

"Look, James is proposing!!!"  
"Shut up, Sirius before I hex you."

"Hexing is bad.  Very bad."

"And I am a baaaaaad boy."

"Sod off, Potter, I see your thick head is back again."

"And I see you, Evans have that fiery attitude back as well."

"Back and better than ever."

There was a pause.

" I still can't believe we lost to Snape!!!" they both said.

"GET OVER IT!!" came eight voices on the side of them.  

When dinner was served, James was facing the Slytherin table, and caught his eyes on Snape.  Snape held up a paper, which looked like to be an exam and pointed it, taunting James.  James just glared and was about to hex him, when he caught side of Snape's sleeve.  There was a missing piece on his robe, and then James remembered the cloth that he found on Lily's bed.  His head started spinning, and came to a realization.  He grabbed Sirius, and motioned for the other two boys to come follow.  As soon as they were all out of the Great Hall, Sirius freed himself.

"What's the matter, Jamesy?"

"Nothing.  Guys, I know something."

"Ummm…. ok."  said Remus.

"Will this take long, James?? I'm hungry." said Peter.

"ME TOO!" replied Sirius.

"Yes--- no… I don't' know, it depends how you take it."

The three boys looked at him in bewilderment.

"Let's just get right to it….. I know who was the cause of the Gryffindor Girls Scandal."

"What?!?!?! How can you be so sure??" said Remus.

"I'm sure of it, just trust me, alright?" They nodded their heads.

"Well, you two said you were hungry, so we'll discuss this in our rooms after dinner."

That night, in the dorm, James pulled out the black cloth that he kept, and told them all about Snape's robes that he saw at dinner.  The three boys were livid with anger, and Sirius got up and headed towards the portrait hole, but James stopped him.

"No Sirius, I've got a better idea.  Huddle up, boys."  They all got close together and listend to James.

"Well, Sirius, Remus, remember how we said that we were going to get the girls back with an even better prank??"

"Yeah."

"Change of plans….. let's kill two birds with one stone.  We'll get the girls back…. we'll get them back their dignity and pride.  How about we get revenge on Snape…. our way."

The mischievous faces dawned on the four boys eyes as they thought of what they were gonna do to Snape and his cronies.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oh, boy!!! What are they gonna do.  You're just gonna have to wait!! Cliffhanger baby!!!  Haha next chapter I'll go all out.  It'll be mission impossible/james bond style with all the gadgets and gizmos, suspense, humor, and step by step action.  Be ready for the dawning of a new era!! You get what I mean…. next chapter…. for the first time this story you will see one word that you have been longing to see for thirteen chapters………….

What you think I was gonna actually tell you?? You gotta wait!! Hahahahaha.  Til then…. peace easy.


	15. Living Legends

When we left off, James found out the suspects behind the Gryffindor Girls Scandal and decided to tell his crew about it.  Well, knowing them, they aren't going to take this sitting down, and I will give you the details on how it all came to be.  

**Ladies and gentlemen………**

**Here it is. (Ahh you thought!! Just read and see what I mean.)**

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Lily, Jade, Carly, and Penny were all confused at the sudden exit of the four boys.  They didn't just get up and leave at dinnertime, especially James and Sirius.  They were beginning to feel suspicious, and felt a little uneasy about what the boys were planning this time.

"What do you think has gotten into them?" asked Penny.

"Probably thinking of a plan to once again make our lives miserable." shot Lily.

"Actually, I think they make our lives somewhat entertaining.  They're really funny."

said Jade.

"You mean, Sirius is funny… don't you."

"Oh, shut up Carly."

"What! It's true…"

"Oh it's true, huh… so is it true that you and Remus have a thing for each other?"

"What thing?"

"The THING!!"

"Well…. no…. the Thing belongs to the Addams Family.  Sirius said that Thing used to belong to his family, but his parents sold it to the Addams'.  I hear they're supposed to have some sort of show on TV."

"Ha ha ha…. very funny."

"I know, isn't it? Well soooorry though, Jade, you know I can't be as funny as your lover boy Sirius."

"Why you little-"

"Ok, calm down, girls… calm down." interrupted Penny.

"Yeah, see look what boys have done to us.  They have managed to turn us against each other by just talking about them!" exclaimed Lily.

"Stupid boys." they all said, and laughed as they continued eating their dinner.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were all seated together in the middle of their room.  A muffling noise in the background told them that the girls were in the common room, but they didn't really pay any attention to it.  Usually they would follow the noise and go down there to annoy them, but tonight was different.  They decided to stay and stick to the plan which was…. well they didn't really have a plan yet, but they were thinking of one!  The plan was going to be a perfect plan, and if the plan worked out the way it was planned, then everything would go according to plan.

"So James…. uhh… what's the plan?" asked Sirius.

"Sirius… I'll tell you what the plan is…. it's to think of a plan."

"Oh, so we can actually plan it?"

"Exactly.  You know Sirius, you get smarter every day.  I'm amazed."

"Why thank you."

"You're welcome."

"QUIT BABBLING!" Remus shouted almost losing his temper… almost.

"Whoa! Geez, sorry Remmy, don't have a cow."

"Werewolves don't have cows, Sirius." said Peter.

"I know… Pete… you know you… ah nevermind."

"Sorry."

"Enough already.  Ok.. here's the plan." interrupted James.  "This is going to be the most difficult prank we'll ever pull off this year.  We're going to do this in three steps.  Each step requires a day, and we're going to have to use all of our skills if we're going to pull this off.  Come closer, here's what we'll do..."

James told them every single detail, and that they would start first thing in the morning.  When they all went to sleep, every single one of them was excited.  This prank was going to be huge…. bigger than the biggest of giants.  They knew they were going to get punished, but a punishment is worth it when you embarrass a group of Slytherins.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Day 1 

After classes, James said they were going to over every single detail before actually putting it into action.  He gathered the four in their dorm room, and had a sheet of paper that he would go over with the four boys.  They didn't have to worry about Frank barging in, because they knew he would be with Alice somewhere, so they weren't interrupted in the least.  

"Alright boys,  we have to do everything together, and it has to be perfect, otherwise it will all be pointless."

"James, you make it sound like we're going to war.  
"We are, Remus.  In a way.. we are."

"Right.  Carry on."

"Well, the main suspect is Snape, but where there's a Snape…"

"There's his two greasy butt-cheeks Malfoy and Lestrange." shot Sirius.

"Well put Sirius." said Remus.

"Ok, well first of all, the package that my father should be on its way.  Cardinal rule in pranking, we have to make sure we don't get caught in the middle of it, though we'll be in trouble if we pull it off, but it's more fun that way.  Remus, remember when you said that we needed something so that we can't be seen?  Well I sent a letter to my dad, and as we speak, he's sending our family heirloom down to my window."

"What's that, James?"  asked Peter.

"The only way we can't be seen is if we're invisible."

"What!! You mean…"

"That's right, Remmy.  My dad is sending me an invisibility cloak.  Passed down the Potter family line for generations."

"That's cool, James!! I didn't know you had one of those." said Sirius.

"Well, I never told you cause I figured I'd have no use for it…. that is till I met you guys."

"Right.  So let me get this straight, James." said Remus.  "First of all,  you want Peter and I to follow around a Slytherin prefect tomorrow and steal the password…. using the cloak of course."

"Bingo, Remus."

"I-I-I-I don't know, guys.  I've never gone marauding around before." stuttered Peter.

"Don't chicken out, Pete… besides you'll be invi-" James trailed off.  "W-what was that word?"

"What word?"

"That word… the one you said you and Remus were doing."

"Marauding?"

"YEAH THAT!!! PETE THAT'S BRILLIANT!"

"Ummm ok James, you'll tell us about that later.  Right now we gotta review the plan."

"Right, once after you get the password, you head right back to the Tower and meet up with us here.  Sirius and I should already have gotten the supplies that we got from Hogsmeade, and we'll review what we are going to do again.  We'll take a long nap, and miss dinner.  Besides, if anything, we'll just go down to the kitchens to grab something to eat."

"Oh, thank the heavens above!!" shouted Sirius, earning smirks from the other three.

"Anyway, we'll wake up at around midnight and that's when the fun begins.  We'll set up everything else in the Slytherin room and the Great Hall, and wait for the next day to arrive.  Get it?"

"Got it." said Sirius and Remus.

"Good."

"Uhhh…. I don't got it." piped Peter.  James groaned and told him again, this time in full detail.  Peter finally understood and Remus interrupted.

"So James, what was that sudden outburst of marauding for??"

"Oh! Well I was thinking that maybe we should have a name for ourselves, but I couldn't really think of one.  Peter here, just helped me out.  Boys!! I, James Potter, dub myself, as well as you three….. the Marauders.

"Wow, what a cool name!!" shouted Sirius.

"I like it." said Remus.

"Me too!" squeaked Peter.

"I knew you would.  Which gives me another idea.  We're gonna use the same technique the Slytherins used on the girls.  You know how they wrote that message on the wall? Well, we're going to do the same thing, only slightly different.  Let's add our own flavor to the mix…." James then began planning the added part of the plan, as an owl came fluttering through the open windor, carrying a large bundle. 

James smiled and said, "Marauders, the first step is now complete." and revealed the soft, silky silvery material before the awestruck boys.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Day 2 

**__**

Classes flew by pretty quickly for the Marauders and as dinner rolled by, all they did was keep to themselves, which made the girls even more suspicious.  They had a feeling they were planning on getting them back for what they did to the four a couple of months back, but Lily assured them they wouldn't do such a thing.  Inwardly, however, Lily was also afraid that this might be what the boys were talking about.

The first parts of the plan were a success.  James and Sirius got the needed materials from Hogsmeade, while Remus and Peter stealthily overheard the password of the Slytherin Tower --- 'serpent-tongue'.  They went over the plan again, and as midnight rolled on by, all four boys were wide awake and were out to cause havoc immediately.  First of all, what James and Sirius got from Hogsmeade was loads and loads of dungbombs.  They walked around in separate places of the castle, and dropped them in places to distract Filch… thinking that it was Peeves the Poltergeist who made the mess.  

While Filch was distracted, the four boys then hustled down towards the Slytherin  Tower.  With the password, they snuck in and saw the first-year Slytherins dorm room.  They placed a powerful slumber charm on the room and began to work on their clothes.  Then they set up different kinds of booby traps so that when Snape and Lestrange woke up, their faces would be permanently covered in red ink, which was charmed to make shapes on their faces.  

Remus' part of the plan was to research on how to charm the clothes into different costumes.  They did this to Snape's and Lestrange's, and then moved on back to the second-year rooms, where they repeated the process for Lucius Malfoy's robes.  All four boys were quite serious, and didn't make a sound, because they knew if anyone woke up, they would blow it.  It turned to be a breeze and they all snuck back out of the Slytherin Tower and made their way down to the kitchens, where the house-elves happily served them food.  

"James, this is bloody brilliant!!" shouted Remus.

"Yeah, but I couldn't have done it without any of you guys."

"To best friends." said Sirius, offering a toast of butterbeer.

"Best friends." chorused the other three as they tapped their mugs and took a sip of the butterbeer.  

"James," said Remus.  "Have you noticed how ironic all of this is?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well look at it, we used the girls' style of muggle-pranking with all the booby traps and stuff.  We also added our own style with the charms and magic and dungbombs.  Finally, later on today we'll be using the Slytherin technique of the writing, except with a little twist of our own."

"I never thought of it that way, but yeah, it is pretty cool how it all turned out… Pete, you sure you remember how to do that message thing you did on the girls right?"

"Consider it done."

"Good… now let's go back to the room and get some rest."

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Day 3 

**__**

Lily, Jade, Penny, Carly, Alice, and Frank all woke up at around the same time.  They couldn't find the rest of the group anywhere.  Frank said that they were already down at the Great Hall so they shrugged their shoulders and went down to get breakfast.  Sure enough, there was the four boys, smiling at them.  They told the others that they already ate breakfast and that they were just going to go for a walk around the grounds.  Lily and the others went in and had their breakfast.

The Slytherins were rolling in laughter at what they saw.  Snape, Malfoy, and Lestrange got out of their respective dorm rooms looking like a wreck.  Their faces were covered in red markings, such as smiley-faces, rainbows, stars, ponies, and other stuff that little girls like to doodle in their spare time.  The three were in a fury and went down to breakfast, causing everyone to laugh at them along the way.  They went looking for their suspects, but they were nowhere to be found (they were invisible *wink *).  At first, they were embarrassed to walk in the Great Hall, but they sucked it up and forced themselves to walk in, and that's when the ruckus started.  

As soon as the three entered the room, their robes began to change.  Snape's turned a bright red, with a big black belt and white cufflinks.  He was also wearing boots, and a santa hat.  The clothes looked big on him at first, but then his stomach began to bulge out, making the clothes now too tight for him.  He also grew a fluffy beard and mustache and looked like a very very overweight version of Santa Claus.

Malfoy's robes didn't change colors, but into another piece of clothing.  He was now wearing a pink tutu, with very tight pink stockings.  The skirt was as high as the top of his thighs, and a tiara had appeared on his forehead.

Lestrange's robes all of a sudden started to change into a bright pink.  He thought it wasn't that bad at first, till he noticed that it had grown something else that was placed on his head.  His robes changed into an easter bunny suit.  His wand all of a sudden changed into a carrot, and he turned around shaking and revealing his small, cute, fluffy tail.  Everyone was doubling over in laughter.  

It wasn't over however, because as soon as Snape began to speak, he didn't' mean to say the words that he was saying.  He began reciting a poem, and the other two joined in at perfect timing when they were supposed to.  The poem went a little something like this………..

**Witches and wizards, come one, and come all**

**Witness the pitiful Slytherins fall**

**We may have won, quidditch, but all that means nothing**

**But we hope that you're watching and enjoying our suffering**

**My real name is Snivellus, I'm a slimy hook-nosed prat**

**But over the years, I've gone terribly fat**

**The name's Lucy Malfoy, known for blackmails and cons**

**But in my spare time, I try to dance like a swan**

**They call me old Rudolph, I'm as fat as a whale**

**But I know how to shake, rattle, and roll my cute tail**

**We are the causes of the Gryffindor scandal**

**Tried to keep it a secret, but our butts couldn't handle**

**We confess our dear crime, on our hands on our knees**

**And apologize to muggle-borns, for they're better, you see**

**If you're wondering who did this to us, here's a hint**

**Make sure read carefully the last line of fine print**

**We now end this poem with a saying so cool**

**THAT SLYTHERINS STINK, AND GRYFFINDORS RULE!!!!!!!!**

Everyone was now on the floor or banging their fists on the table cracking up in laughter, though all were still confused at what they meant about reading the last line of fine print.  They had a hunch it was Gryffindors, but who?? They then saw a swish of scarlet float from the door of the Great Hall, and began to form these words:

Brought to you by: THE MARAUDERS 

****

Everyone was confused at this, and Professor Coggins stood up quickly.

"WHOEVER DID THIS!! SHOW YOURSELVES NOW…. WHO ARE THESE… MARAUDERS!?"

Suddenly the whole Hall turned to the doors to see four boys stroll in with huge smiles on their faces.  

First was Peter Pettigrew, a small blond boy with wand in hand, looking like he just used it for something.

Second came Remus Lupin, the sandy-brown haired boy with shabby robes, a huge grin on his face, and hands crossed on his chest.

Third came the famous face of Sirius Black.  The girls swooned as he walked in, black hair going down to his eyebrows, grinning like a maniac.  His eyes sparkled while his hands were up in the air in triumph.

Last but not least came the one and only James Potter.  His hair was as messy as ever, and his glasses were tilted slightly to the right.  He had the familiar mischievous glint in his eye like Sirius', and had his hands in his pockets.

In unison, the four boys grabbed each others hands and raised them up in triumph, and together they bowed down to everyone, as if they just finished a great performance in a play.  The Hall erupted in applause, and got standing ovations from everyone except the Slytherins.  Dumbledore managed to give them a small clap, while McGonagall tried her best to hide her smile.  Professor Coggins was in a fury.

"You four!! Detention for the rest of the year!!"

The boys smiled at this, and nodded willingly.  They then looked to the Gryffindor table for four familiar faces, and smiled at them.  The four girls smiled back, and the Marauders then retreated back outside.  Before leaving, James took one last glance back, and spotted a beautiful redhead smiling at him with warm eyes, and he gratefully returned the favor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The talk of the night in every common room was the prank of the already legendary Marauders.  Even the teachers were in discussion about the group.  Snape, Malfoy, and Lestrange were all severely punished, having detentions for the rest of the year, as well as for half the term next year.  They also had to clean up after dinner with the house-elves until Professor McGonagall requested for them to stop, which was probably not going to be for a while.  In Dumbledore's office, he and McGonagall were in discussion.

"Well, Minerva, it looks like you have a lot on your hands."

"Yes, Albus, I fear those four boys will be the death of me.  I can't believe what length they went through, just to get back at the three Slytherins."

"Ah, yes, but you see, they used complicating charms and spells to pull of such a stunt."

"Yes, a part of me almost congratulates them for a job well done.  Still, their habit of breaking rules if truly horrifying indeed."

"Minerva, Minerva, you are forgetting one small fact." 

"What is that, Albus?"

Dumbledore chuckled.

"You have to deal with the Marauders for another six years, my dear Minerva."  She groaned as the realization dawned on her.  

Today was a glorious day in the hearts of Gryffindors.  They were finally redeemed of the horrid scandal that occurred several months back, but it was also glorious because of one other thing… now they found comfort as well as fear in the four suspects of the greatest prank in the history of Hogwarts to date.  

Masters of Mischief, Tyrants of Troublemaking, Princes of Pranks, Ringleaders of Ruckus, and all-around good guys:

**The Marauders.**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ok, so it wasn't as great as I said it would.  Still, it was rather fun making this chapter so I hope you all like it.  I'll hopefully get started on the summer and second year soon, this is the end of the first year adventures.  I will make this clear next chapter so stay tuned!! Peace.

****


	16. All Hail Summer! Pt 1

Well well well, how'd you like the finale, huh? Haha I'd say it turned out as a bit of alright myself.  Now I have more for you.  On with it!!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A week has passed since the debut of the newly-dubbed Marauders and the prank of the year.  The Marauders willingly went to every detention and did their punishments with smiles on their faces.  They knew that it was well worth it.  Snape, Malfoy, and Lestrange were put in their places, and they gained their reputation back.  When they walked through the halls, nearly everyone recognized them and some even went to shake their hands for a job well done.  They found it rather amusing and felt famous.  Remus and Peter tried to keep their pride to themselves, but James and Sirius began flaunting themselves to everyone, much to the disappoint of the former, as well as the first year Gryffindor girls.

"You know, it's been a week since it past, you guys don't have to bring it up every day." muttered Lily.  She was furious at James and Sirius' attitude, but more so James than Sirius because… well… she hated him.

"Evans, Evans, Evans, come on.  You know you liked it.  The beauty of seeing Snapey-poo in a santa suit was just pure bliss." said James.

"Ah, yes, Santa, his bunny, and the ballerina for entertainment.  Truly a sight to see." concluded Sirius.

Remus and Peter chuckled while Lily glared at all four of them.

"I can't believe you four.  You think you're just all that now, don't you.  Well, to me you four are still troublemakers, and I'm not very fond of troublemakers.  Especially you, Potter."

"Evans, get a grip.  So what if we gloat a little…."

" A LITTLE!! YOU RUB IT IN SO MUCH MY FACE IS GETTING RASHES FROM YOU, POTTER!!"

Once again, James has managed to ignite Lily's temper, and her friends came over to try and help calm things down.

"Lily, please don't get mad over this.  I mean, it's only James and Sirius.  They're the two idiots of the bunch.  Remus and Peter aren't really doing anything wrong, well except for maybe hanging around with them."

"Hey!! I resent that Jade!" said Remus while Peter scowled behind him.

"What!! Just leave us alone, please, yes, we thank you for exposing the gits that trashed our room, but it's the past already.  Just let it be!" said Carly.

"Oh, alright, if you insist…"

"Remus! Don't give in to her! She's only trying to force you away from the dark side."

"Sirius Black, you are talking nonsense." said Jade.  "Carly's right, you, mainly you and James, have just got to get over it already.  It's over… done with.  Zip.  Pow. Have a nice day."

"Fine." said James and Sirius simultaneously.

Later that night, the group went down to the End of Year feast in the Great Hall.  Everyone was gathered inside of the Hall, while the walls and ceilings were covered with green and silver ribbons and decorations.  They were to announce the winners of the House Cup, and it was obvious the Slytherins were going to win.  Instead of their usual gloating and bragging, however, the Slytherins remained somewhat silent, only glaring at four particular boys who humiliated their house openly just a week before.  All they got from the Marauders in return is their famous smiles, which made them even more angry.  Dumbledore stood up and as the Hall gradually became silent, he began to speak.

"Welcome to the End of Year Feast.  It is my honor to introduce you the results for the annual House Cup.  It was a close race between two honorable houses, while the other two had great showing as well."  

The whole Gryffindor table began to sulk down.  They knew they were last place.  One because they didn't win a single game of quidditch.  Two, because of the low-life  potions master Professor Coggins, who took points from Gryffindor just for breathing in class.  He also added multiple points for Slytherin, and they rarely did a thing in his class.  They were utterly embarrassed to even come to the Feast, but a stern McGonagall forced them to make an appearnce, out of respect for the winners, which was disgustingly enough the house of Slytherin.

"After tallying up the point totals, we have come to a conclusion.  In fourth place, we have the Gryffindors with four-hundred and sixty-six points.  In third place, we have the Hufflepuffs with five-hundred and twenty-one points.  In second place, we have the Ravenclaws with five-hundred and ninety-four points.  And in first place, we have the Slytherins with six-hundred and forty-six points!"

There was a light applause from three of the four houses, while Slytherin's side of the Hall was roaring with cheers and whistles, as Professor Coggins was presented with the House Cup.  Again Dumbledore asked for silence and began to speak.

"I thank you all for a wonderful year here at Hogwarts.  Seventh years, I wish you the best of luck in your future, and may your dreams come true.  Now, on with the feast!"

Once again, food appeared on their plates and drinks in their goblets, and everyone dug in, piling a load on their plates.  The Marauders were sitting together with Frank, along with Lily, Alice, Jade, Carly, and Penny.  

"So what are you all planning on doing over the summer?  I'm going to a quidditch camp to get better." said Jade.  James and Sirius were delighted to hear the word 'quidditch' and smiled at her.

"That's great, Jade.  Well, Sirius and I are just gonna be at home. We have nothing planned at all." said James.

"Actually, James, I think I'm going to spending more time at your house than at my parent's house." corrected Sirius.  "You know how much my family despises me, and I just feel more welcome with your family."

"Oh ok, well that's fine then."

"Thanks bud.  So Remmy, what are you doing?"

"Oh, I think I am going on vacation to France.  That's whee my grandfather was from, and my parents want to take me there."

"Is it a VACATION vacation?? Or is it a vacation?"

"What in blazes are you talking about, Sirius."

"You know… is it a 'vacation'?" Sirius said while putting two fingers up on both hands gesturing quotation marks.

"Ohhhhhh… no, it's actually a vacation.  No biggie."

The girls looked at the two boys with weird expressions on their faces.

"You two are weird." said Carly.

"No Remus isn't weird.  It's those two." Lily said pointing to James and Sirius.

"Hey, it's not our fault.  We're not even weird." exclaimed James.

"Yeah you're right, Potter.  You're idiots."

"Shut up, Evans."

"Wonderful comeback, Potter.  Give me a call on the telephone when you come up with more good ones like that." replied Lily sarcastically.

"A Tele-kinete-what?" asked James with a confused look.

"A telephone."  Everyone in the group except for Alice and Carly looked at her like she had something growing on her nose.

"It's a muggle thing that allows us to talk to people without going to their house by 

dialing a certain number."

"Hmmm… pretty weird." said James.  "I should have a look at this one day."

"I know James!" interrupted Sirius. "Let's visit our favorite redhead one weekend.  It should be fun seeing what a muggle house looks like."

"NO!!!" said James and Lily simultaneously.

"I don't want to go into that thing's house.  There is no way I am wasting my summer with Evans and her humble abode."

"Good, Potter, you're not welcome much anyway."  James looked hurt a little by this, but still managed to keep his scowl on Lily.

"Oh hush up, the both of you.  I mean, it's the summer.  Just try and put your differences aside.  I think it's a great idea." said Jade.

"Hey!! You're supposed to be my best friend!"

"Well, I can't deny that it's a great idea."

"Thanks, Jade."

"Your welcome, Lily!"

"Ugh…….."

Well as they left for the platform on the Hogwarts train, there were no eventful happenings.  It was a smooth ride, with frequent visits from the cart lady, mainly because the Marauders managed to eat their whole batch of candy in less than ten minutes.  As the train drew to a halt, Lily was looking out of the window, eager to go home to her parents.  

She wasn't thrilled to see Petunia again, but she loved when her parents asked her about the school and what she learned.  She was always willing to explain in great detail her life at Hogwarts, and she couldn't' wait to see the look on her parents' faces when they found out she was one of the top students in her class.  

James saw his parents patiently waiting for him at the platform.  Mr. and Mrs. Potter were standing hand-in-hand, searching frantically for their troublesome messy-haired son, and James wanted to bust out of the compartment to meet them.  He loved his parents dearly, and he wanted to tell them all about his success at Hogwarts.  Maybe in private, he would pull his dad aside and give him the full story on the great prank that he pulled at the end of the year.  

Everyone was excited to see their families again, well everyone except for Sirius.  Sirius looked disgustedly in his parents' direction.  Mr. Black was in deep conversation with none other than Mr. Malfoy.  The two were best friends back in their Hogwarts days, and Sirius despised the Malfoys with a passion.  Still, he wanted to see the look on Mr. Malfoy's face when his son told him what happened to him at the end of the year.  It would be priceless.  Sirius thought that if he took a picture of it, he would frame it and hang it on his wall in forever memory of the two stupid Malfoys.

Summer was awaiting everyone… and they were finally home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sorry, short chapter.  I ran out of things to write about, and I just started school, so my updates won't be as frequent as before.  

**Katie Bell – I didn't get Jade from her story.  I actually got it from one of my friends who is attractive, and her name is Jade, so yeah.  Just to clear that up.**

**I'm out.**


	17. All Hail Summer! Pt 2

**Sorry for the delay…. so here is the summer of the first year!**

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Lily's ride home was once again full of conversation with her mum and dad.  She told them all about the remaining days at Hogwarts, but purposefully forgot to mention the scandal of her girls' dormitory.  She didn't want her family to be too worried about her because she wanted to prove to them that she could take care of herself.  She also wouldn't hear the end of it from Petunia, with all of her teasing and mocking, saying that Lily was a loser, even in her 'school of freaks'.  Lily also started to talk about the Marauders.  Actually, she started off talking about the Marauders, but as they came up into their town, she was just constantly bickering about a certain James Potter.  'James this, James that…. I beat James… James beat me….'  everything she talked about suddenly revolved around James.  Her mum noticed this and began to smile, because she knew that her daughter didn't notice that she was only talking about one boy.  Her dad took it differently.  He wanted to get to know this James and make sure that he was good enough for his flower.  He was very worried to know that her daughter was already talking about boys, and she was only eleven, soon to be twelve years old.  Lily's dad pulled up into the driveway, just as Lily was talking about her  potions exam.

"…. and this slimy git from Slytherin named Snivell---uhhh----Severus Snape got top marks in that subject.  I thought that I'd have won too! Oh well, I think I beat James anyway, so that's all that matters." 

"That's nice dearest." said her Mum, still smiling at Lily's last statement.

"Yes, Lily,  we know how much you hate this James fellow, but it's time to unpack your stuff now.  Hurry now." said her dad.

Lily and her parents unloaded all of her stuff and carried it out to her room.  Her room was still as clean as ever, and it looked like no one has been in it for months. Once again, Lily was captivated by the environment of her room and smiled to herself.  This was her room, and no one else's, and she loved it dearly.  As she started unpacking from her trunk, she wondered what her friends were doing.  Jade was probably running around the house, excited to be home.  Carly was most likely sitting in her room studying, or reading a book silently or something.  Penny was probably at Carly's house, or vice versa.  James…. nevermind.  Once she thought of that name she slapped herself on the forehead and unpacked some more, swearing to herself whenever she thought of that name.

Dinnertime was Lily's first encounter with Petunia.  Petunia avoided her all day, but it was inevitable that the two would meet at the dinner table.  Lily sat uncomfortably next to her sister, while Petunia glared at her menacingly.  Her mum gave Petunia a look that would kill, and she turned away and began eating her food.  Lily could tell that Petunia was in the process of a diet.  She had no meat on her plate, only salad.  It was also much smaller than the serving that Lily had gotten.  Yes, Petunia would look skinny, but it would only make her complexion worse.  Lily continued eating her food, making sure that she didn't mention her Hogwarts year because of fear of outrage by Petunia.  After dinner, Lily trotted up to her room and began to cry.  After all that's happened, her sister only managed to hate her even more.  She wondered if her and Petunia would ever become true sisters again, but she knew that it was not to happen now that she was a witch.  She decided to take her mind off of her sister and concentrate of other things…….

mainly beating James next year in all of their classes.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

James was in his backyard, flying everywhere on his broomstick.  He decided earlier that day, that after all those exams, he wanted to get things off his mind, so he went off to free his mind by flying.  Flying to James was just like walking.  He was flying on a broom before he could even walk, as a matter of fact.  However, flying only made him think more about his past year.  Actually it made him think more about his past year living with a flower.  Lily Evans was floating through his mind.  James has never thought about a girl this much before, so he assumed it was because he hated her.  She was a challenge that James couldn't' solve yet, and he was slightly irritated by this fact.  Flying only made him think that he would be better than Lily at flying.  When he caught glimpse of the name he just thought of in his head.  He frantically shook his head around trying to get it out, and not noticing a flying ball shooting straight towards his head.

"OWWWWWWW! What the heck is…… Sirius!"

"Hello Jamesy… I see you have been training without me.  Some friend you are." Sirius said with a mock pout.

"Oh shut up, I was just flying around.  I wasn't really training.  Anyway, what are you doing here?"

"Got sick of my mum's bickering, so I decided to floo on over here to hang out."

"Cool… so what… how about a game of quidditch?"

"First to a hundred?"

"We got time.. first to two hundred."

"You're on."

The gamed ended up with James beating Sirius 200-170.  The game ended so fast, that they played another game to fifty, and Sirius got even beating James 50-20.  As they were about to settle the score with each other in another game, Mrs. Potter called them in for dinner.  They filled their stomachs as they chatted merrily with each other.  Mr. and Mrs. Potter were proud of their son, and of course… their "other son."  Both boys earned high marks in all of their classes.  Mrs. Potter gave both of them an extra sundae just for their good work in school.  Afterwards, James and Sirius went into James' room to discuss on some things that they wanted to do for the upcoming year.

"So James, what do you think we should do next year… you know besides pranks and nagging Slytherins and stuff."

"Well, first of all, we have to make that bloody quidditch team."

"Yeah!!! We're gonna make it, James… you, me and Remus are shoe-ins for chasers, and Jade has a good shot at being the second beater for the team too."

"That's right, and we're gonna get both the quidditch and the House cup back to Gryffindor.  In the meantime though, we should find a way to help Remus with his condition."

"But how can we do that?? It's impossible to help a werewolf unless you were an…

"Animal!!!" James finished.

"Animal?? So how are we gonna get animals?"

"No you idiot, we become animals… we become animagi!!!"

"James, that's extremely hard to do, not to mention illegal."

"And when have you ever NOT do something illegal, Sirius.  It's just the fact that we're breaking a bigger rule than what we usually break, that's all.  And we won't get caught."

"I hope so, it's a good idea and all, but there's a lot of risks.  Still, whatever we can do to help Remus is fine by me."

"Good attitude, Sirius, we'll inform Peter at the train station, right now let's just get some rest.  I'm still worn out from our games."

"Alright."

James and Sirius went to sleep dreaming of the adventures of their second year, but James' dreams not only involved the remaining of the Marauders, but also with a redheaded flower named Lily.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day for Lily was pretty eventful.  She spent the entire morning helping her mom around the house, then went shopping with her at the mall in the afternoon.  She bought tons of new clothes, and also ran into Jade, Carly, and Penny there as well.  They were out watching a movie together, and Lily decided to join them after Mrs. Evans confirmed that she would get a ride home with Mrs. Atwater.  After the movie, Lily and her friends were walking around the mall so more making conversation with each other.

"So why didn't you guys tell me you were gonna meet up?" Lily asked.

"Well, we didn't' know where you lived, and Jade didn't know your phone number." said Penny.

"Yeah, we would've let you know though, and we're really sorry." said Carly.

"Oh no, it's fine, I was just wondering that's all."

"Lily, we would never leave you behind.  Besides, you're my best friend!!" mentioned Jade.  "In fact, you all are."

"Best friends forever!" chanted Carly.

As the girls were eating at the food court, Jade suddenly got pelted by a small piece of bread.  She turned around trying to look for the person that did it.  After a few seconds, another one hit her square in the ear so she had to pick at it to get it out.  She was getting angry and stood up to look for the troublemaker.  Lily was too busy giggling with Carly and Penny at this, so she didn't notice that her tray got taken away from her.  She reached down to grab her burger, when she realized it wasn't there.  Fuming, she stood up with her hands on her hips and knew exactly what to say.

"I only have one word to say to this girls……."  They understood and scowled as they mumbled…

"MARAUDERS."

Suddenly they heard distant snickering behind them.  They all turned around just to see all four of the infamous Marauders laughing and pointing at them, with James holding Lily's tray and looking at her as if he was calling her out to come and get it.  Lily was now furious, but she didn't want to make a scene.  She gracefully walked over to the Marauders followed by the rest of the girls.  When she got there, she politely took the tray from James and then…. well… and then she toppled it all over James' head.  

James was a mess.  His messy hair was not covered in ketchup and mayonnaise, and his glasses had fries stuck on the side of his frames.  Sirius, Remus, and Peter started doubling over in laughter, but immediately stopped when they saw the looks in the eyes of Jade, Carly, and Penny.  They smiled at them, then grabbed James and dashed away, knowing that James would've hexed Lily if they hadn't done so.  

"That was bloody brilliant, Sirius." said Peter.

"Yeah, and… eww.. .what's that smell?!?!"

"Nothing, it's just James."

"Shut up, Remus, you git."

"We're just messin around James, you don't have to take it personally."

"Oh it IS personal.  This is Lily Evans we're talking about, and she is going to pay dearly for this."

"Whatever James, now let's just hurry up and go to the bath store."

"Why, Sirius??"

"Because…. that's where you need to buy your new shampoo to get all that ketchup out."

With this statement, everyone burst out laughing at James.  Even James himself managed a smile, secretly happy he got to have a run-in with the beautiful Lily Evans.


	18. Leaders, Dreams, and All in Between

Sorry everyone… the school has been killing me, and hockey season for me is back up… I've been wanting to get this up for a while, but once again, writer's block came down on me when I actually had time, so yeah…. well let's see if I still got the magic.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

James Potter was still trying to wash out all the ketchup from his hair.  He didn't forget what had happened just a few hours back when he and the rest of the Marauders were at the mall with their families.

"_It'll be a good experience for you… blah blah blah.." _said James imitating his parents. "Well it bloody is now… I mine as well just pull a Lily and turn into a redhead already."

After a few more minutes, James finally gave up on his hair and decided to go downstairs.  As soon as he opened the door, he jumped back in fright, because Sirius was standing right in front of him.

"Sirius, you dolt!! What are you doing?"

"I came to hang out… what are you doing here?"

"I live here."

"Oh yeah."

"Well you can at least knock."

"Dude, I just got here.  I didn't have time to knock before you and your ketchup-filled brain decided to open the door.  I was gonna whack you with my knuckles."

"Whatever, let's go visit the house-elves and see what they got to eat."

"Sounds good to me."

Sirius and James ran down the stairs, only to be scolded by Mrs. Potter.  Sirius was always over at the Potter's house, so James' parents treated Sirius like they were a part of his family, so that would mean he would get yelled at just as much as James would.  Sirius ended up staying for the night, and as always, they didn't go to sleep right away.  They stayed up well into the night, talking and snickering about anything and everything.

"Remember our prank, Sirius?  Boy, that was classic."

"Yup… I believe we have made a name for ourselves, Jamesie Boy."

"Don't call me that! I hate that."

"Oh, sorry, I guess that name's only reserved for our dear little Lily."

"Sod off, you git.  Lily is still going to get it."

"Whatever James, it's only a matter of time before you two will actually realize what you have with each other."

"What?!?!"

"It's magic.  You and Lily are destined to be….

"Enemies.  Pure enemies."

"You know James, I'm tired of you always bickering about Lily.  It's 'Lily this' and 'Lily that'.  'I hate Lily.' 'Lily hates me.'  Just admit that you like her already!  

"But I don't…"

"I know!! James… I just said I'm tired of it.  I'm also literally tired, so I 'm going to go to sleep now."

"Whatever, Sirius.  I'mma stay up."

"Ok… stay up and think of your beautiful flower."

"I knew you were gonna say that."

"I knew you knew I was gonna say that."

"Shut up and go to sleep, Sirius."

"Alrighty!"

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

The weeks were passing rather quickly, and Lily was starting to feel a little Hogwarts-sick.  She missed the school and everything about it.  She missed her friends, her classes, the Great Hall.  She just wanted it to be September 1st already so that she could go to her new home.  Lily loved being with her parents, but she has grown to love her stay at Hogwarts in only one year, and she desperately wanted to go back.

Just a couple of weeks before September 1st, an owl flew by bearing Lily's letter and the supplies she needed to buy.  She was excited and wanted to go right away, but her parents said they had work to do so they would go tomorrow.  She read over her supplies one more time, and found that she had almost all the accessories she needed to bring.  All she needed was her new second year books.  She stayed the rest of the night, reading _Hogwarts, A History._

Tomorrow came, and Lily and her parents were off to Diagon Alley.  When they reached the pub, the bartender Tom smiled and welcomed the three to his pub and went to the back with the Evans'

"Miss Evans…"

"Please, call me Lily."

"Ok Lily, you want me to teach you how to open the passage to Diagon Alley?  Just in case I'm too busy at the Leaky Cauldron and you come back, you'd know what to do."

"Sure, thanks a lot Mr. Tom!!!"

"Please, call me Tom."

Lily giggled. "Ok Tom."

Tom took a piece of parchment and scribbled instructions for Lily.  Then with Lily, they both read it aloud while Tom guided Lily's wand to the correct bricks.  As soon as the last brick was touched, Diagon Aley was in clear view, and Lily glowed with happiness.

"Thank you Tom!! I'll be sure to keep this parchment just in case."

"No problem, Lily, anytime you have any questions, just come see me."

"Sure thing. Thanks again!!!" shouted Lily as she walked off with her parents into the Aley.  

Tom smiled to himself, while someone grabbed a drink from the counter.

"Tom, that girl sure is something, isn't she.  I could feel the room light up when she walked in."

"You got that right.  She's the only person I've ever showed how to open the passage.  Hope it comes to use one day."

As Lily and her parents were going around looking for her 2nd year supplies, Lily saw many familiar faces that were walking around.  In Flourish and Blotts, she ran into Penny, Carly, and their parents.  Since they lived near each other, both became the very best of friends.  Still, they would never compare their friendship with Lily and Jade's.

Lily also ran into Jade near Quality Quidditch supplies.  Jade was currently buying herself a new broom, because she wanted to try out for the quidditch team this year.  Jade and her family decided to tag along with Lily's, and together they spent the rest of the day buying their supplies, and talking about the upcoming year.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

James and Sirius spent the rest of the summer training for quidditch, and thinking of their new pranks.  When they went to Diagon Alley to pick up their supplies, they met up with the rest of the Marauders, and they gallivanted all around Diagon Alley having a good time.  James and Sirius stocked up with their materials for practical jokes at Zonko's.  Later on in the day, the Marauders were sitting at the ice cream parlor when James caught his eye on someone.

"Hey… is-is that….."

"James, you're stuttering….

"So? Why's that wrong?"

"James!! You never stutter!"

"Shut up Sirius, I always stutter."

"Actually, mate, you don't.  Perhaps it's because of a certain liking for something.. or should I say SOMEONE."

"Remus, you have no idea what you're talking about.  Usually, you do.  But this time, no.  I think you're the one with the problems, not mine" James smirked

Remus laughed.  "Whatever you say, o fearless leader."

"Leader?"

"Yeah James." said Peter.  "While you were busy staring at Lily….

"I WAS NOT STARING AT LILY!"

"Anyway, while you were busy NOT staring at Lily, we three named you our leader."  
"Wait, why me?  I'm no leader."

"James, you have everything there is to be a leader.  You're smart, you like challenges, and you're trustworthy." said Remus.

"Well thanks guys, but I'm not any better than the rest of you lot."

"We know that James.  Cause you suck at getting girls." said Sirius.

They all laughed knowing all was well

When James got home that night, he was certainly feeling a little good about himself.  He was named the leader of the Marauders by his best friends.  He still didn't understand why, but in his heart he knew he was the right one for the job.  He thanked them profusely on the ride home earlier, and before he went to sleep, he smiled to himself.  However, it wasn't his leadership role that was making him smile.  

"Lily's a lot different…." he said to himself.  Then his conscious gave way.

_She's more beautiful now._

"Hey!! Get out of there! I don't need you telling me anything right now."

Oh shut up, you stupid boy.  I'm your conscience, and I know way more about you than you yourself.

"Man, why you always have to be so mean for?  You always say things I don't want to hear."

It's my job.  Now go to sleep.

"See?? Why you little…. ah nevermind.  I will."

Hehehehe I have a perfect dream for you…………..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Well how'd you like that?!?!?! The dream will be revealed next time I have time.  Hopefully it won't be a month long before I update right? Haha I'm very sorry everyone who still reads this story.  I'll try and be better.  Well I'm outies. Peace.**


	19. One Year Ago

As Lily was loading her trunk into the car, Lily was recalling in her mind one year ago when she first had to do a similar task.

_My how time passes by, _she thought.

It was one year ago that Lily made her first trip to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters at the King Cross Station.  One year ago when she met her best friends Jade, Carly, and Penny.  It was one year ago when she met, Sirius, Remus, and James.

_James Potter.  I can't believe I've known that prat for one year, _she said to herself.  She couldn't stand him really.  From the very moment he set foot in their compartment with his annoying partner in crime Sirius, Lily knew she would have her hands full with him.  She felt a strange feeling inside of her.  She didn't know exactly what it was, but she interpreted it as hate, making her to hate James Potter.

She loaded her trunk and ate some breakfast with the family.  Petunia was still asleep because her parents reluctantly agreed that she could stay by herself for the morning.  Petunia did NOT want to see Lily off at her "freak school" so she begged her parents to stay.  Lily was somewhat relieved that Petunia wasn't going with her, so after breakfast she made sure she had everything and waited patiently in the car.

Soon her parents were inside the car as well.

"All ready, dearest?"

"Yes, mum.  Where's daddy?"

"He's coming… just giving Petunia last minute rules.  You know, don't mess up the house, don't answer the door, no boys…..

"Oh I see." said Lily.  _Like any boys would want to visit her… _she thought in her mind.

They were on their way, and an hour later they were finally at the train station.  They unloaded Lily's thing and placed it on a cart.  Lily and her mum waited for her dad to park the car.

"Now Lily, make sure you do just as good as you did last year.  I want you to do the best that you can, ok?"

"Yes, mum."

"That's good my dear.  I know how much fun you have at this school.  I just want you to be successful while you are still having fun.  I see your eyes light up anytime me or your father mentions 'Hogwarts' or any other magic-related word.  I just want you to be happy.

"I know, mum.  Thanks."

"You're welcome dearest.  By the way, have you met any boys over there at Hogwarts?"

"Mum!!! I'm only 12 years old.  Please don't start with this.  I don't need any boys in my life right now."

"I'm only checking Lily.  Cause you know, if you do come across a certain special someone, you can always owl me for advice.  DO NOT owl your father.  He knows nothing about girls whatsoever." her mum chuckled.

"Mum, I don't think I'll be owling you about boys anytime soon."

"Well, you do keep on telling us about your one friend… what's his name… Jim?"

"James Potter.  And he is just a virus to me.  I don't think I will ever find an interest in him.. well except when he is sinking at the bottom of the castle lake." she said smiling, thinking of the scenario.

"Lily, don't say that.  Be nice."

"But how can I be nice when he is just a dumb stupid prat!"

"He's a boy, Lily, boys are like that at your age.  Why I wouldn't be surprised if you and him got together someday."

"Mum, do not wish nightmares upon me… I swear if I have one dream about that mangy git.. I'll….. JADE!!!!!!!!!!"

"HI LILY!!!" said Jade as the two embraced hugging each other tightly.  "Oh, hi Mrs. Evans!! Good to see you again."

"Hello Jade." Lily's mum smiled.  "How was your summer?"

"Oh, it was great.  Though I wish I could've seen Lily more often after our outing at the mall."

"Don't remind me, Jade." snapped Lily.  She didn't want to reminisce on the fateful day she just had to have another run-in with that stupid James Potter.

"Hush, Lily." said her mum.

Soon her dad came by with Jade's parents and both of the families were walking towards the ninth and tenth platform.  This time, it was Lily's father who was lecturing her about random things.

"Lily, I want you to owl us if you need anything.  Stick by your friends at all times, and don't go gallivanting around at night."

"Yes, Daddy."  she sulked.  Her father's mention of gallivanting at night only reminded her of a certain boy and his cronies. _God I hope he doesn't talk about…_

"And NO BOYS!"

_Bingo._

 "I swear if I ever catch a boy with my Flower I'll…."

"Calm down, hunny.  Lily already established to me that she would not be involving with any relationships whatsoever with boys." said her mum.  Jade stood there speechless, while her parents laughed.

"Well it's time to go, you two." said Mrs. Chapman.  Both girls hugged their parents respectively and ran with their carts together towards the barrier between Platforms 9 and 10.  When they opened their eyes, they were once again at the Hogwarts Train Station Platform 9 ¾.  Lily and Jade began unloading their carts and gave their trunks to a man that said they would load them for the girls.  They walked in and found a compartment all to themselves and waited for Penny and Carly to come along.

"Lily, were my ears clear?  You said that you wouldn't be involved with boys?"

"Yes, Jade, and that stands final.  No boys.  Not one.  Zero.  Zilch.  Zip."

"Whatever, Lily, you're very pretty.  Ain't no way you're gonna be away from boys for long."

"Did I just hear boys??" said a voice.  Carly was standing there alongside Penny beaming.  The four of them shared hugs with each other and each took a seat as they began to talk about their summer.

"Well, Carly and I have just been hanging around a lot." said Penny.  "See, she tells me about things like R—"

"Shut up Penny! They don't need to hear any of that sort." shouted Carly, blushing.

"Oh, no… I know that blush anywhere." said Jade.  "A boy?"

"A boy." said Penny.  She then got hit on the shoulder by Carly.  Lily rolled her eyes.

"Oh no not this topic again." she said.

"What, Lily, you don't like boys?" asked Penny.

"Well she likes boys, but she wants nothing to do with them.  She thinks they are a waste of our time." said Jade.

"Well… well they are!!!!!"

"Shut up, Lily." said Jade.  

Carly was sitting there with an appalled look on her face.  "But. but…. Lily!! What about Ja---" Lily covered her mouth before she could finish.

"One mention of that name and I will pull out all of your hair."

"Whose name is that?" replied a deep voice coming from the compartment door.  All four girls turned their heads to see four familiar faces smiling at them, each girl remembering that one year ago, was when they met the group who would later on deem themselves as the Marauders.  

Sirius Black was smiling on the far right side, brushing his smooth black hair back.  He seemed to have grown a couple of inches, but still maintained his mischievous glint that makes him a mastermind of manipulation.

Remus Lupin was standing right next to Sirius, his even longer, sandy brown hair falling over his face.  He was smiling mostly at Carly, his best friend other than the Marauders.  Remus always had that look on: that mature, yet childish face, that only he could pull off.  

Peter Pettigrew didn't change one bit.  He didn't get any taller, his hair didn't grown any longer, but it almost looked as if one leg of his was shorter than the other.  In fact, he may have gotten a little fatter over the months.  Nonetheless, the odd ball of the Marauders was standing there smiling at the girls, having inherited a goofy grin from one of his friends standing right next to him.

The person who spoke was between Peter and Sirius.  His messy black hair just got even messier.  His spectacles were resting just above the bridge of his nose, and he had that infamous grin that made most girls melt, but also made a redhead more irritated.  This was why he used it so much, really.  Still, James Potter, the leader of the Marauders, had his stupid grin, and it seemed as if he was using all of his boyish charm on Lily.

"Well, if it isn't the four stooges." said Lily while the other girls smirked.

"At your service." said James with a wink.

"Pleasure." piped in Sirius.

"Oh my God… it's déjà vu." said Jade.  "It was exactly one year ago when you two idiots showed up in our lives with those stupid words of yours."

Remus laughed.  "So that's how you came to met them, boys?  With five measly words?  I was expecting something more funny or something coming from you log."

"Well what can I say… these girls make us speechless sometimes." said Sirius.  Jade was surprised at this remark.  

"Yeah, I mean, who in their right mind could ever be smooth with these ladies." said James.  Lily was just as surprised as Jade was, but still had her stern tone.

"What do you want, Potter." 

"Now now, I just came to say hi."

"Oh… hi."

"Hi."

"Ok you can go now."

James laughed.  "They're kicking us out boys.  Looks like we're just gonna have to find ourselves our own compartment."

"Well let's get to it then." said Peter.

The Marauders walked past the girls waving at them and slid into their own compartment.  As soon as the door closed, the girls looked at each other with stunned faces.

"Oh my Goodness, what's happened to them.  They're all… all… nice!" piped Jade.

"Hey, Remus has always been nice." said Carly

"Yeah, but he wasn't as hot as he is now, ain't he Carly." said Penny with a wink.

"Hey!!! Remus has always been cute." She was blushing furiously now.

"I'm surprised they didn't pull any pranks on us." interrupted Lily.  She couldn't stop thinking about that look that James was giving her.  That same look that caught her attention one year ago.  Suddenly, a thud was heard and the girls turned.

"Oh I wouldn't be too sure about that!!" yelled Jade.  Apparently she tried to get up and her right leg shrank.  Lily was laughing until she caught site of her reflection.

"AHHH! I'M AN EGGPLANT!"

"Hey….. what happened to my fingers?!?!?!" flustered Carly as she tried to pick up her Chocolate Frog.

Penny was rolling with laughter.  "Well they didn't do anything to… hey!!!"  Penny tried to take a bite of her candy, but only took a bite out of a nice American one-cent penny.  Her candy was now changing into many pennies, until it came to about at least fifty American cents.

Lily was furious.  It was one year ago when they pulled such a stunt.  Now, she would shout out the name of the culprit like she did….. 

one year ago.

"JAMES POTTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"


	20. Life at Hogwarts: Different Similarities

Lily and her friends searched compartment after compartment, finding those four boys that has managed to once again piss them off.   Well, it was actually Lily, Penny, and Carly searching with Jade limping around behind them. 

"Where are those four idiots?" shouted Jade.

"They've got to be around here somewhere." piped Carly.

"I've got it! Wherever there's a Snape…"

"There would be a Marauder… or four at the most.  Great thinking, Penny!" said Lily.

Sure enough the four girls opened the compartment in the back to find Snape in a hot pink dress and a daisy hat singing "Mary Had A Little Lamb" while skipping around the compartment.  The four girls tried to keep from laughing because there was more important things to worry about.

And that important thing was smiling right behind them.

"James, my man… looks like these four doves were looking for us devishly handsome men." said Sirius with a smile.

"Why yes, of course my good friend Sirius.  Except as a member of the Marauders, I must omit that tiny little firetruck right there standing next to the gem." said James.  He was in his element, which was, well…. to piss Lily off.

The four turned around in astonishment.  How could they manage to slip by without them noticing?  They checked every compartment except the one they were in now.  They were sure that it was them that cursed Snape into prancing like a sick ballerina.  Still, they couldn't figure it out.  How did they get there?  Penny was the first to speak.

"Alright you four, change us back now!"

"But Penny, we didn't do anything to you." said Peter.

"Yes, but I am concerning my friends… and the perfectly delicious candy that you have managed to ruin!!!"

"Whoa, calm down my dear coppered friend."

"Shut up Sirius, you know you always have this knack of saying the stupidest stuff at the stupidest time."

"No, Jade… that would be his job right there." interrupted Lily with a finger pointed solely at James.

"Lily… I recall one year ago when you had that look.  I must say, that is sooooo last year." said James with a mock feminine voice.

"You know James, that voice really matches you.  Maybe you're actually a birth defect and people mistook to you be a boy, when you are just a little girl underneath."

"All the more to hang out with you lot, Lily-kins."

"NO! YOU'RE A BOY… Now… as a boy.. change us back!"

"But Lily… we like seeing you lot enjoy our pranks."

"Yes Sirius, but not when the prank is being pulled on us you dolt!" shouted Carly.

"Geez, calm down.  Patience is a virtue." said Remus grinning widely.

"Oh shut up Remus." shouted Carly.  "You know.. you are pretty much just as bad as them three.  You always have some wise thing to say when it doesn't need to be said.  Now shut up, and change us back!"

The boys smiled and quickly changed the girls back to their normal state. 

"Thank you!" said Lily, still shooting a glare at James.  Well, it wasn't really a glare, it was more like a stare.  A mean stare.  Yes, she was staring at James Potter.  He seemed to grow a lot taller since the last year, and his eyes were as chocolate as ever, dancing with merriment at the site of Lily's angry face.  She had noticed how his figure was more toned.  Lily was guessing he was training for Quidditch.  Still, she couldn't help but stare.. wait stare?!?!

Lily looked away.

"Well, if you don't mind, we're off to our compartment, and I suggest you Marauders not set your horrible smelly feet in there unless you want multitudes of curses flying at your thick heads."

With that Lily and the rest of the girls walked off, with Jade complimenting Lily on her "last word" statements.  The boys just stood there.

"Well, one thing's for sure," said Sirius. "At least we're not like our pal Snivellus over there."  Sirius pointed to Snape who was still skipping merrily around and the four boys snickered as they walked back to their own compartment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, the rest of the train ride was pretty much uneventful.  The Maruarders kept to their word and didn't go inside the girls' compartment.  They kept to themselves and entertained each other with bad impressions of their teachers, and a re-enactment of the many pranks they have played on Snape.  The girls, however, were pretty much bored out of their mind.  Five minutes after they went into their compartment, Lily pretty much regretted giving the Marauders her threat of cursing.  They all wished that the boys would just be themselves… you know break the rules… and just walk in anyway and give them a good laugh.  Well, actually Jade, Carly, and Penny just wanted to see Lily and James bicker at each other again.  They thought it was pretty funny and slightly romantic, seeing how those two, even though arguing, seem to just click.  

As the train came to a halt,  everyone dressed into their robes and began filing out of the train.  James heard the familiar sound of a booming voice calling for first years, but didn't listen to it.  Instead, he followed his friends towards the horseless carriages that would bring them to Hogwarts castle.  James was very excited about this coming year.  It was this year where they would get down to business in helping Remus with his transformation.  It was also another year of adventures around the castle, pranking unsuspecting Slytherins, and most importantly, another year of quidditch.  They all walked into the Great Hall and sat at the Gryffindor table while they waited for the first years to enter.  James couldn't help but look at Lily again and see how much prettier she had gotten in just one year.  He then realized that Sirius was in oblivion too.  He followed his best friend's eyes to the person sitting next to Lily chatting merrily with her… Jade Chapman.  

James then smiled and nudged Sirius back to reality.

"Dude, what was that for?" said Sirius, who was still not looking at James.

"Sirius, ole buddy, ole pal… please stop drooling over Jade.  It sickens me to think that my best friend would like to settle down."

"What?!?!?! Hellll no Jamesie, I was just looking… you know… it's not a crime to look…"

"But to gaze at them for minutes is pretty much freaky." said Remus who walked in.  "And besides…. I suspect they're all still mad at us for pranking them back at the train.

"Remus, you are always the reasonable one." said James.

The Great Hall then came to a silence as the first years crawled up at the front of the Great Hall, and, as before, the hat on the stool was presented and sang the usual House song.  Then Professor McGonagall called out each and every first years' names so that they could be sorted.  After the sorting was finished, the applauding for the newly sorted students ceased as Dumbledore stood up to speak.

"Welcome all new and returning students!  This year will be a splendid year as did so in the past.  A few changes have been made to keep order around this school.  First of all, a Whomping Willow has decided to inhabit the Forbidden Forest, but seeing as the forest is off limits to students.. we shouldn't have a problem with that, now should we?" said Dumbledore.  The Marauders could've sworn he winked in their direction after this.

"Secondly, due to certain circumstances from the previous year, a new contraption has been added to all four dormitories of the House.  I'm sure you all will find out in time what that new contraption is. And lastly, our caretaker Mr. Filch has posted up all things that are not allowed in the corridors, such as magic, dungbombs, etc. so please take the time and look at them.  With all that said, enjoy the feast!!!"

The whole school piled into the food that appeared before them.  Once again, the Marauders seemed to grab all the attention, as they had an eating contest.  Lily was disgusted by this once again and decided to not turn in their direction.

"I can't believe those four, eating like children!!"

Jade smirked. "Uhh, Lily…. we are children."

"No we're not, we are premature teenagers, and we should learn how to grow up!" she said those last two words a little loud for a certain group of boys to hear.

Carly smiled and said, "Oh, Lily, you know them… they'll never grow up.  Well, except for maybe Remus, he's the only sane one.  Still.. trying to get the Marauders to grow up is like trying to make Professor Coggins award Gryffindor 100 points.  It's pretty much impossible."

"Remus is the only sane one, huh Jade?" said Penny.  "Then tell me… who is that guy that is currently shoving mashed potatoes into his face at a record speed?"  

Carly saw Remus and scowled.  "Well, he was influenced!"

"Sure, Remus is just as bad as James and Sirius.  He's probably the one that comes up with all the planning for their pranks." said Jade. 

Carly scowled and ate the rest of her plate, whilst half of their table was cheering madly at the Marauders' eating contest.  The four girls then walked up to their dormitories to unpack their trunks.

"I sure hope this second year is just as fun as our first one!" piped up Carly.

"Oh, I'm sure it will be.  Considering the people we have in our dorms… it sure will be interesting." said Penny with a laugh.  Lily shook her head at this, but still admitted that if it wasn't for the Marauders, then life at Hogwarts would be close to boring.  Well, not really, considering that they learned about magic.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning, the schedules were passed out during breakfast.  All the Gryffindor second years scowled as they saw their first class of the day.

"I can't believe we have potions with the Slytherins!!" shouted Sirius.

"Not to mention it being our first class of the day…." muttered James.  

"No worries, mate.  We have Transfiguration with McGonagall next, and DADA after that.  The day is not that bad." mentioned Remus.

Things were the same on the other side of the table.  The girls were clearly avoiding the boys, but knew it wouldn't last for long.

"Potions with the Slytherins… I can't believe this!" shouted Jade.

"You know… you sound more and more like Sirius every day." said Lily.

"No!! I don't want to sound like that git.  He's a menace to society and I want nothing to do with him."

"Is that why you were staring at the back of his head while we were walking to our dorms?" said Penny with a smile.

"Shut up, Penny.  I was not…" said Jade, who was clearly blushing.  "Well… well… I still can't believe we have potions with the Slytherins!"

"Oh my goodness, is that all you have to say" groaned Lily.  "Potions with Slytherins are bad… but being in the same class as Potter for every single class…. THAT is something to shout about."

"Lily, my Lily, still thinking about James Potter, are you?" winked Jade.

"I am not.  I just can't stand the boy!  He's so irritating with his stupid messy hair, and his dumb brown eyes, and those stupid glasses of his… ughhh!"

"My oh my, you know the shape of his hair, the color of his eyes… you know, Lily we didn't ask for a complete description of how good-looking James is, Lily dearest." said Carly.

"JAMES POTTER IS NOT GOOD LOOKING!"  After Lily said this, she earned a lot of scowls from many girls all over the Great Hall.

"You rang, my belle?" said James, smiling.

"Ooooh it's just like you to answer every time a girl says your name."

"Hey, I can't help it.. it is my name right? James Potter… right?" he said with a mock confused look.  "Sirius… is that my name?"

"Why I believe so… let's see… Jaa---aaam---es.. J-M-S" Sirius pronounced.

"No no…" said Remus.  "the E is silent, Sirius my man."

"Oh, quite right, quite right. Why, yes I believe James is your name……. James." Sirius laughed.

James just gave a smirk at Lily while she and the rest of the girls groaned and finished their breakfast.

Classes seemed to be the same.  Points were immediately taken off by Professor Coggins just because the Marauders walked into the dungeons with smiles on their faces.  Still, James shut the Professor up, when he was able to conjure up a perfect levitating potion that levitated not only Professor Coggins' desk, but Professor Coggins himself.  Transfiguration was no different either.  Professor McGonagall, was as strict as ever, but they all did fairly well in her class, as all she did was review from the year before.  In DADA, they learned about boggarts and hags, but there was no practical lesson, so this class was pretty much boring.  After dinner, the boys once again roamed around the grounds of Hogwarts, finding more and more secret passageways.  It was still the same old Hogwarts, but they felt a slight difference. Maybe it was because they were older or wiser.  Or maybe it was because Sirius kept on bugging them about his facial hair that he wanted to grow out.  Still,  they liked the feeling of their lives being different, yet still the same.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Damn that chapter was pretty much stupid.  I just wanted to post one up because I haven't done so in a looooooong time.  Sorry, I'm just a little rusty, and I haven't come up with a plot yet.  Well, maybe I have, but I didn't want to reveal it yet.  Just letting you all know that I'm alive and well haha.. .and I'm still thinking about the story.  Please give it time to be exciting, and I hope that you are still reading it.  Mahalo muchos!!!**


	21. Never Say Never

I'm dreadfully sorry for that stupid boring, unexciting chapter, but you see… it's been a while since I've written in this, and I have no idea what is in store for our young students.  All I know is I hope it gets better so that you can enjoy my story again. Well on with it, let's see what happens..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Classes for the next two weeks were rather boring and dull.  Professor Binns was being as boring as ever, Transfiguration… well McGonagall pretty much is strict with everyone.  Potions was a nightmare to everyone excluding the Slytherins.  Charms and DADA were alright.  They were starting with their practical lessons again so it was getting fun.  Herbology… well no one really paid attention in Herbology because who wants to know about plants?  "It's good to know just in case you run into poison or something" was what Lily would say… typical Lily Evans to point out something like that to such an unlikable class, but the students tolerated it.  

James strolled down into the common room one fine afternoon after lunch and saw a sheet of parchment nailed to the Gryffindor bulletin board.  The sign read:

_Attention all 2nd years and above,_

_Try-outs for the house quidditch team will begin today after classes between 4:30 and 6:00 pm.  If you are interested in being a chaser, then you must come and try out as we are looking for a whole new set of chasers.   You may also try out for other positions as well.  Remember to come by with a broom in  your hand, and your mind set on quidditch and QUIDDITCH ONLY!_

_Paul Wood – Gryffindor Quidditch Captain_

James saw this sign and felt a jolt of joy inside of himself.  He ran off back into his room to tell the others.

"Guys, guys… quidditch tryouts are today!!!"

Sirius dropped all of his belongings. "Are you serious?!?!"

"No you are…. wait .. wait.. we're not gonna get started with this again.  Yes I'm serious!"

"Ehhhh.. wrong answer try again later!! I'm Sirius dummy.  James, I thought you were my best friend, and you still don't' know who is who among us lot?"

"Shut up, Sirius.  Are you two going to try out?" James said pointing to Remus and Sirius.

They nodded their heads in agreement.  "It's one of the very things we've been waiting for, James." said Remus.

"Good.  Let's all go down there together.  Now that we are allowed to bring brooms, we can finally bring home that bloody Quidditch Cup away from those Slytherin slimeballs."

"Let's not forget… Ravenclaw's team is pretty good too.  They have that one chaser, what's his name… Diggory I think?"

"Let's not worry about him.. let's just make the team first.  I'm not playing with anyone else except you two guys.  They're looking for all three chasers!"

"That's great!  Maybe we'll get to play together after all." said Remus.

"Is Jade going to try out for beater, Sirius?" asked James.

"How should I know?"

"Well, you are pretty close with her aren't you… always looking at her and everything."

"Correction James, Sirius looks at every girl."

"Yeah!!!  See… and those kinds of questions you should be asking your wife, James."

"I hope you're not talking about…"

"Miss Lily Evans, the top of our class in studies, arguably one of the most beautiful women in the school.. and your future betrothed one."

"Oh shut up Sirius.  Evans is nothing but a goody two-shoes teacher's pet that is always trying to be perfect."

"Sure, James.  Remember.. you were the one that was willing to help her out after that Gryffindor scandal last year.  Not many people would do that for a "goody two shoes teacher's pet'." mentioned Remus.

James pouted.  "I still hate her."

Sirius and Remus groaned as Peter walked into the room.

"Hey Pete!!! Are you going to be that announcer person for the quidditch matches?"

"Sure if you still want me to.  It'd be pretty fun, I'd say."

"Good! Then practice this… ' Potter, passes to Black, drops it to Remus.. .fakes.. scores!!" said Remus.

"Hey why do you have to score? Why can't it be me?" said Sirius.

"Because… it was my announcement."

The boys then continued arguing who would be the one to score the point while Peter just sat there in amusement.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lily was in the library researching something for her Herbology essay due the next week.  She wanted to get it over with so that she had nothing to do over the weekend.  As she was studying, she saw someone walk in and immediately scowled.  Severus Snape walked in and was searching for a place to sit down.  Unfortunately for Lily, the place was packed with many students, and the only available seats were on her table.  She saw Snape slowly walking towards her table.

"Finally, a Gryiffindor who cares more about their studies than some stupid pranks."

"What do you want, Snape."

"Nothing, I'm just here to finish my bloody Herbology assignment.  That Sprout is giving us plenty of work this here."

"Well, that's funny… I'm working on it too."

"Listen, Evans… I must say, I truly do apologize for my behavior last year.  You know who eleven year olds can be."

"Snape, you're only a year older.. it's not that much a difference."

"I know, but I still apologize for my actions."

"Why the sudden… niceness or whatever." said Lily with a little more softer tone.

"I just figured that not all Gryffindors can be all stupid and big headed and nosy and irritating like.."

"Potter?" said Lily.

"Yes… like that prat.  I hate him with a passion you wouldn't even believe.  I swear if I ever get my hands on him I will make sure that his face gets rearranged."

Lily looked at him with a doubtful look.  Seeing as Snape was shorter and not as toned as James was, she couldn't imagine Snape beating him into a pulp.  Still, it was kind of relaxing hearing someone else who hates James as well.

"Umm.. I hate him too." she said.

"Yes, I've noticed… especially with that prank you and your minions pulled last year."

Lily laughed a lil.  "Yeah… so uh.. you need help with your essay? I'm almost finished and I have nothing else to do.  See most of my friends are either at the Quidditch Tryouts or off wandering around aimlessly about the castle." said Lily.  This surprised her.  In fact, everything surprised her.  Snape was actually not as bad as she thought.  His appearance may seem evil, but there was a certain aura saying that he was actually quite alright.  

Snape was feeling the same as Lily was.  He would have never thought that she would offer her help to him.  He could take care of himself, and he was sure that she would hate him thanks to their scandal, but he was just speechless by her polite gesture.  All he could manage to spit out was…

"Sure."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Paul Wood stepped forward  to begin the tryouts for the team.

"Alright, everyone.  Thanks for coming out.  As you could tell by last year, our quidditch team was not very successful.  Still, we have managed to be very competitive to all teams.  Still, it's as if we need a little bit more edge than just plain competitiveness.  And due to the seventh years graduating last year, we are in need of new players.  So I'm going to split you into three groups.  The chasers will be with me, the beaters will be with Ludo Bagman, and the seekers will be up higher into the air playing with Brian Krum over there.  Please try your best. Alright, everyone split up!!"

The people that were trying out all set out to their spots.  James, Sirius, and Remus all went with Paul.  The lone Marauder, Peter, just watched on the stands practicing his announcements as he was watching the players fly around the pitch.  

"Ok, so you three… ah yes… James Potter, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin.  You are the Marauders."

"Correction! We're three-fourths of the Marauders." piped in James as Sirius and Remus nodded in agreement.

"Whatever.  By your reputations, you three are good at pranks, but let's see how good you are with this." said Wood as he pulled out the quaffle.

"Well, that's what we're here for!" said Sirius.  

Wood just chuckled and tossed James the ball.  "Ok.. since I am the keeper… you three have three shots each to try and score on me.  Let's see what you puny little second years got."  Wood expected these little second years to be unimpressive.  

Well, he got what was coming to him… because James Potter was charging at him full speed.

James flew like a pro down towards the three posts.  As he was flying, he noticed that Wood was leaning to his left, cheating a little.  So he sped up left and faked a shot towards the left, causing Wood to bite and go left… James then swerved right and put it right in the center hoop.

Wood was astonished.  It was very rare for a single chaser to score on a keeper at the center hoop.  That was the center hoop after all… if anything, it was quite embarrassing being scored on like that.  _Lucky shot… he thought._

Well, James picked up the quaffle and sped down again.  Seeing as Wood was sitting straight and stiff, he knew he could easily score on the right and left, but no… he wanted to impress Wood.  He aimed straight for the center hoop bar, and shot the quaffle.  The quaffle then bounced off the hoop and straight through it.  

Once again, Wood was determined to stop the next one as James came flying down again.  He was ready for everything.  He saw James go left, but blocked the left and center.  James then swerved right and Wood followed him. James tried to fake him, but Wood was not fooled this time, James was about to run into him and Wood closed his eyes……..

and opened them again to see James pass the quaffle to Sirius.  

Wood was just sitting there with a confused look on his face.  Nearby, he saw Ludo Bagman and the beaters that were trying out all looking in his direction with their jaws dropped open.

James flew up to Wood.  "What's wrong, captain?" said James.  "You look a little dazed there."

"Uhh… what happened Potter?"

Just then Ludo Bagman came up towards him.  "Did you see that move?!?!?!  Oh my goodness never in my life have I seen someone as young as you pull that off."

"What did he do Ludie?" asked Wood in frustration.

"Well, as he was about to crash into you, he somehow spun around while still swerving.. in fact he was literally drifting, and he whipped the quaffle around his head right through the center hoop!"

"Lucky shot, I  guess.. " Said James while Wood cast a look at him.

"Wow… well uh… I guess just wait on the side then for the others to finish."

"Sure thing,  cap ole pal!" said James.  "HEY SIRIUS!! IT'S YOUR TURN!"

Sirius then came speeding down the pitch.  Wood was determined.  He was not going to let another quaffle in for the rest of the tryout…………………….

"Thanks for coming out… all of you." said Wood with a pout on his face.  "I'll be sure to post the teams up by next month at the latest.  Our first game is against Slytherin on the week of Halloween.  You may go now."

He then met with Ludo Bagman and Brian Krum in the stands to discuss the try-out.

"Well, boys… how did your tryouts go?"

Bagman spoke up first.  "Well, we needed a Beater with precise aim, and not afraid to get down and dirty.  So at first I was watching Dennis Graham.. as he was the biggest… but as the try-outs were getting underway I saw that a girl named Chapman… Jade Chapman was remarkably accurate with the bludger.  She could hit a fly if you asked her to really…

"But I don't' think she'd stand up to the Slytherins."

"I don't know… I admit she is pretty damn good.  What about you, Krum-Krum?

"Well, I made my decision that Arthur Weasley should be the secondary seeker."

"Weasley?!?! But his broom…."

"It's not the speed and size of the broom that matters… it's the heart of the player that rides it Wood.. you know that." said Krum.  

"Well yes… well as for chasers…."

"Longshot… Potter, Black and Lupin." said Bagman.

"I say, the others weren't so bad though!"

"Yes, but it was those three that managed to score on you every time they got a chance."

"I had a bad day."

"Did I mention they always scored on the center hoop?"

"Oh shut up…. fine fine."

They continued their discussion for what seemed like hours, mainly on the many moves that the three soon-to-be chasers pulled on Wood, while he was scowling and nodding in agreement.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lily went back up to the dorms from the library.  She was still in surprise at what she did.  She actually asked Snape for help.  Well, it was a friendly gesture, and she was a very friendly person.  It made sense.  She walked into the common room to find Carly and Penny sitting down.

"Hey guys.. what's up?" said Lily sitting down on her favorite chair.

"Nothing… just being bored.  Everyone's at the tryouts mostly." said Carly.

"Yeah.. even Jade… geez can you believe that girl?" said Penny.

"Well, Jade is pretty unpredictable… " laughed Lily.  She remembered clearly the many lectures of quidditch Jade gave her whenever Lily asked about it.

"Well, what should we do in the meantime?" said Carly.

"I don't know." Lily said and they remained silent for about a minute or so.

"Where were you anyway?" said Carly breaking the silence.

"Oh, just in the library, studying."

"Typical Lily, always studying."

"Oh shut up, I don't' ALWAYS study."

"Uhhh… yes you do."

"Well, I like to have fun too."

"Really… well when's the last time you went on an adventure." said Penny.

"Umm… ummm…"

"Exactly." chorused the other two girls while Lily pouted.

"Well fine then… you know what? Let's go then."

"Where?" said Penny.  She didn't know Lily was actually going to actually give in to it.  Carly's eyes were open with surprise as well.

"Anywhere… you want adventure… let's go roam around."

"You mean like… like how the Marauders do it?"

"Yes!! Except we'll do it by not breaking the rules, since it's not even dinner yet."

"Whatever you say.. one thing though Lily."

"What's that Penny?"

"Why do you wanna be like James when you can just be WITH him?!?" 

With this Lily started chasing after Penny out of the portrait hole with Carly giggling and following them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Well, I think this chapter was a loooooooot better than the previous one haha.  Looks like I'm back in the game! For now anyway… I always have something come up and well… I really like this story so yeah I'll try and be more faithful to it from now on.  Alright take it easy.  Til the next update!**


	22. Marauders Stick Together

Not much reviews came in… but maybe because everyone thinks I'm dead… but fear not… I will keep writing… I'm on break and I will use this to my advantage.. ok ok on with the story

**Oh and uh… originally.. I'm guessing James is supposed to be a seeker, and Sirius a beater… but yeah.  In MY story… who else could be a better team than the mischievous trio themselves, eh? haha ok ok.**

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

By the time dinner came round, Lily, Carly, and Penny had found two secret passageways that were shortcuts to the other side of the castle.  Each of them took this into their memory just in case they had to use it in the future if they were late for class or if they were running away from the Marauders, or the Slytherins or something like that.  They trotted happily towards the Great Hall where they saw a tired but happy-looking Jade sitting there waiting for them.

"Hey Jade, so how was tryouts?" asked Lily as the three sat next to Jade.

"Pretty good, I guess… I think I did well." said Jade with a smile.

"It'd be so cool if you made the team…. then we'd have someone to cheer for." piped up Carly.

"Well, if anything, you can cheer for James, Sirius, and Remus over there." said Jade pointing to the three boys along with Peter who had just sat down on their long table.

"Potter?? Please… " Lily huffed.

"Oh I don't think you'll be saying that after you've seen him play." mentioned Jade.  

"Oh I won't have to do that.. he'll do it for me.  With that big head of his, who knows what he can do." said Lily with a grumpy look on her face.  Obviously she didn't' like it when people praised James Potter, but she wondered how good he actually is.

Meanwhile on the other side of the table…

"Gee, James… I still can't believe that move you pulled on Wood today…" said Remus.

"Yeah, how the heck did you do that anyway?" said Sirius before he stuffed his face with chicken.

"Umm… I told you.. lucky shot." said James.  In his mind however, he knew it wasn't lucky.  He had been practicing that move at his house all summer and couldn't wait to try it on a real keeper.

His friends seemed to disbelieve his statement. "Sure, James." was all they could say.

"James, when you pulled that move.. even I stopped announcing.. I was rendered speechless man." said Peter.  "I didn't' know what to say about that one."

James began to feel a little uncomfortable.  "Come on guys, it's only one move… that's not what matters in a game like that.  Besides, anybody can do it.  I could teach you if you want."  They all agreed and James promised to teach them what he knows, and vice versa.

"Excuse me, but we could hear what you are talking about.. and the subject on James Potter is not a very good one I might add." said Lily.  She overheard their conversation and couldn't stand James being praised any longer.

James just smiled.  "Well, if it isn't my favorite enemy Evans.  Long time no talk, eh?"

"Yes, and it has been some of the most peaceful and relaxing times of my life." replied Lily.

"Oh no.. not you two again." said Jade while she slapped herself on the forehead.

"What's it to you, Chapstick?" said Sirius.

"WHAT'D YOU CALL ME?!?!"

Sirius then realized what he said.  "Oh! Uh…. nothing! I said… nice shoe, is it thick?"

Jade scowled at Sirius.  "You will pay for that, Black."

"Bring it on." said Sirius with a smile.  

While James, Lily, Sirius, and Jade were bickering at each other, the remaining four sat down together.  Remus was the first to speak.

"Yes, it has been a while since we have all hung out together."

"Well considering it is YOUR guys' fault for pulling that horrible prank on us." said Carly with a huff. 

Peter chuckled, but then stopped immediately when Penny shot him a look to kill.

"Come on, girls… can't you take a joke?" said Peter.

"Of course we can.  We were just seeing if you four had the guts to actually talk to us again." said Penny.

"You're only girls." said Remus with a smile.  This caused Carly to smile a little too.  She had missed Remus' smile.

"So… you're only boys." Carly said back.

Remus just laughed.  Peter then spoke up.  "So, when do you think those four are going to stop bickering and admit their feelings for each other."

Penny laughed.  "Not for a long while, I'm expecting.  Especially those two." she said while pointing at James and Lily.  "They're the most stubborn of us bunch."

They all laughed as they continued watching in amusement the two boys and two girls bicker about anything and everything.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

"Stupid Filch.  I can't believe we have to do all of this without magic."

Sirius was groaning while the others scowled with him as well.  Yes, once again, the Marauders found themselves in detention.  Apparently in potions class, Sirius "accidentally" tripped causing Snape's and Malfoy's cauldron to spill all over their robes, and both of them ended up going to the hospital wing because they were swelling up so fast they looked as if they were going to explode.

"I think Dumbledore's punishment on Malfoy last year needs to be amended." said James.

"Yeah… I can't believe it.  Now that Malfoy had to stay one grade down… we have him to deal with now in class instead of just the other two buttcheeks." retorted Sirius.

Remus chuckled.  "Of course, no one can measure up to the Marauders."

"You got that right, Remmy old buddy." said Peter while scrubbing the trophies.

"By the way, Remus…" said James.  "I think we may have found a way to help you with your…. condition after all."

"What do you mean, James?"

"Well, werewolves only hurt humans."

"That's what it says in all the books." chimed in Sirius.

"So that means animals wouldn't be harmed at all."

"That's also what the book says."

"Shut up Sirius.  Anyway, we were thinking that maybe if we could turn into Animagi, then we could join you in your wolfie state."

Remus was speechless.  He would have never thought anyone, not even his best friends, would do such a thing.  "It… it might b-b-e dangerous though, guys.  I don't want you risking your own necks for me.  Not to mention the fact that if you even pull this off, you would be illegal unregistered Animagi."

Sirius smiled.  "We know that, you goofbrain.  But come on!! Think of all the adventures if this works!! We could roam the Forbidden Forest!" 

"Well, if you're all up for this…" said Remus.

James and Sirius nodded wildly and looked at Peter. At first he looked a little shy and fearful.  Then he noticed Remus' smile, and knew that it would be for a good cause.

"I'm in too, guys.  Marauders gotta stick together."

All four of them smiled at each other and then continued their detention duties.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

**Yeah… that's all I can think of for now.. really short chapter, but yup.  Just umm… wait for the next chapter, okie day? Alright, it should be up in no time, PROMISE!  haha bye bye now.**


	23. Darkness Lurking In Our Midst

Halloween was coming up, and the Marauders were in the library doing research on animagi.  Well, actually, they did the REAL research at night when they snuck into the restricted section to find books about animagi.  Currently, they were deciphering the strange words that they copied down in order for them to understand it better.

"Ok, so it says here that you become the animal that lives within your soul.  The animal that you become will most likely match your personality as well as your way of life.  Hmm… that's funny.. a werewolf doesn't match Remus' way of life." said Sirius as he was reading.

Remus chuckled.  "Well, I didn't choose to be a werewolf, did I?"

"Well, it says here that we don't get to choose either.  Remus… I think if you weren't already a werewolf, you'd be something peaceful and reasonable like an owl or something."

"Or a duck?" piped in Peter.

"A duck?!?! Peter are you nuts?  Why would Remus be a duck?"

"Because ducks are calm and cool, but they are also pretty tough.  I got attacked by a flock of em once.  Wasn't one of my best days."

"Hmm… a duck huh?  I still don't believe it.  Ducks look like complete wusses."

"Oh, no, Siri my boy… ducks are tough cookies to deal with." said James.  "Ducks fly together, that's why.  You mess with one, you mess with the whole flock."

"Ducks fly together?" said Sirius still with a bewildered look on his face.  "Sounds like something coming out of a moo… a moovvv.. a whatever those muggles watch on the big screens."

"A movie?" said Remus while snickering.

"Yes, that's right.  A movie."

Remus was now in thought.  "Hmm.. so if ducks fly together.. .does that mean we're kinda like ducks??"

The other three looked at him stupidly.

"I mean… you mess with one of us, you mess with all of us, right?"  

"I see what you mean Remus." said James.  "So that means that we are the Marauding… the Marauding…"

"The Marauding ducks??!?!?!" finished Peter.

The boys looked at each other with confused and amused looks on their faces.

"NAH!!!!!!!!" they chorused and they went back to work on their animagi research.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Lily and her friends decided to go for a stroll on the outside grounds of Hogwarts.  Everyone had been so busy with homework lately that they rarely had these occasions where they could just hang out.  Jade decided that they should go over to the Lion's Heart… the place where all the Gryffindor first years (well they were first years before, anyway) decided to name it when they hung out.  As the girls sat down, they joked around and laughed and even managed to find the carved versions of their names on the tree.

"Ha.. I remember this day… it was when Lily declared her undying love for……"

"Don't even say sister.." warned Lily.  Jade then knew it was about time to stop talking about that.

"I say… those boys… we haven't seen them around in a while." said Carly.  " You don't think they're up to something, do you?"

"We have known the Marauders for about a year now… and I am sure when I say…. yes.. they ARE up to something." said Penny.

Lily scowled.  "Well, it better not be anything against us, because they know that we'll just get them back the same way we did before.  I think they've learned their lesson."

"I don't…"

"Me neither."

"Yup, I agree with Carly and Penny." said Jade.

"Well… oh I hope they are not plotting anything against us…" said Lily with a worried look.

"Hey, no sweat it… if anything it's probably against Slytherins or something.  You know how much James and Sirius despise the Slytherins."

"Well… not ALL Slytherins can be THAT bad." said Lily remembering her time with Snape in the library.

"Oh, I think they are…." spat Jade.  "They mind as well spell EVIL right on their very foreheads… those lot."

There was silence for a bit… talking about Slytherins wasn't really a good topic, so Carly broke it and said, "I wonder what it would feel like to be a boy."

Everyone looked at her… "You can't be serious…." said Jade.

"No.. well I'm not serious about it, but I'm just saying…. wouldn't it be cool to like… be in the shoes of a Marauder?? Think of how much fun you'll have and whatnot…"

"But we have fun ourselves!!!"  

" I know… but don't you think it'd be exciting?!?! Those four boys probably know as much as about the castle as Dumbledore himself."

"Well, I guess it wouldn't be such a bad thing… " said Jade.

"Yeah.. me neither… but I don't want to be Potter." spat Lily.  "It's enough that I can stand being around him… but actually BEING him?!?!" Lily shuddered at this thought while the other girls giggled.

"Aww come on, Lils… you can't even admit that James is actually pretty cool once you get to know him?"

Lily thought about Penny's question.  Yes, James was pretty cool indeed.  He helped her understand what Dumbledore said last year, and well… he's pretty much the only person that can match up to her in grades… and get on her nerves as well.

"I don't really want to get to know about him, really." was the thing Lily could only manage to come up with.

"Get to know, who, Evans." said a voice from behind them.

The girls jumped back and saw the Marauders walking towards them.

"Fancy meeting you here, Evans."

"Likewise… shouldn't you be out terrorizing some poor innocent soul?"

"Nah, why do that when I could do it right here…." James winked.

"Shut up, Potter."

"Lighten up, Lily" said Sirius smiling.  We just wanted to hang out, is all.  

"Sure, Sirius.  Knowing you, you always have something up your sleeve." said Jade.

"Hmm…" Sirius then looked under his arm, causing everyone to laugh a little because it looked like he was infatuated with his armpits.

"I didn't mean for you to take it literally, Sirius." said Jade in between giggles.

"I know, just trying to lighten up the mood a little." he smiled.

"Well, anyway… I remember hearing words such as 'Marauder' and 'prat' so I assume you were talking about us?" said Remus.

"Yes… but the 'prat' part.. it was just Lily talking about James." said Carly.

"Evans… I'm deeply hurt by such a comment."

"I highly doubt that, Potter."

"Well, I guess it gives me all more the reason to do this."

James then pulled his wand and made Lily's robe turn pink.  

"I…… HATE….. PINK…." said Lily as her anger boiled inside her.

"Really? Hmm…." James then turned her hair.. and her eyebrows… you guessed it….

pink.

"James Potter you jerk! Change me back!  I'll kill you!!"  shouted Lily and began to chase after James who ran away quickly.  His look turned from amused to fearful when he saw the look on Lily's face.

"There they go again….." said Peter leaning back on the tree.

"You know she will you know…" said Jade.

"Will what?" asked Peter.

"Kill him.  I wouldn't doubt if she actually did."

"Well, that's interesting news." said Sirius.  "Anyway, on to another subject… Peter my man, it seems as if your name is not on here?"

"It's not??"

"Nope… so I, Sirius Black, take it as a great duty to present you with the carving stick for you to engrave your name on this here tree." 

Peter then put his name on the tree… and copied down the three characters that were after James, Sirius, and Remus's names --- 'MST'

"What is that supposed to mean, anyway?" asked Jade.

"Marauders Stick Together" answered Remus.  "It's out little motto this year… which our pal Pete made up one fine afternoon."

"Aww.. it was nothing." said Peter with a little flush.  He never had attention to him before and wasn't used to all the praise.

"Hmm.. you know what's interesting?  How ironic is for our motto… to be written on a tree with an actual stick.  You know… stick…  Marauders STICK Together… ah nevermind."

Remus chuckled.  "Only you.. Sirius.. .only you."

The others just shook their heads as they saw a very pink Lily with clown shoes chase a very feathery James who actually began to sprout wings

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

"This is all your fault you know."

Lily and James were now currently in the hospital wing. Apparently neither of them knew the counter curses to the hexes they were pulling on each other. So Madame Pomfey was tending to James' feathers… or arms.. and was giving Lily a potion that would make her pinkness go away.

"How is it my fault." spat James.

"You started this whole mess."

"Oh yeah."

"Stupid prat."

"Hey, I'm not stupid."

"Yes you are."

"Who was the one that beat you in that Transfiguration exam, huh?"

Lily scowled at this.  He was right.  James was not stupid at all.  In fact, James was always right behind Lily when it came down to studies.

"That's only because Transfiguration happens to be my worst subject, and your best." said Lily.

James just smiled and picked up the Daily Prophet.  "At least I don't' look like used bubble gum."

"Well I'm not the one that looks that looks like a stupid duck."

"Ducks are tough.:"  
"Huh?" 

"Never mind." said James and he began to read the front page of the Daily Prophet and his face began to turn pale.  Lily turned to face him for another remark but noticed the pale look on his face and remained silent. 'I wonder what's on that paper' she thought, and she saw another copy and read the front page.

DARK FORCES RISING RAPIDLY 

_A sorcerer that goes by the name of Voldemort has currently been wreaking havoc in the Middle East.  It is said that he has killed more than ten wizards, and perhaps doubled the amount of muggles that he has murdered as well.  Top Aurors will be called forth to investigate this process.  Among these aurors include Harold Potter, the famous auror who singlehandedly warded off five dark wizards in order to save a muggle family's home from being destroyed.  Sources tell me he is expected to lead the elite team in finding this Voldemort and getting rid of him.  For more in-depth sights.. turn to page 4B._

James threw the paper down and stared into space as Lily looked at him in concern.

"James… are they talking about…"

"My dad… " was he could say and he remained silent the rest of the night.


	24. The AntiMale Genital Destroyer

Halloween night came by and the students were still studying at Hogwarts.  They're midterms were held during the week, and everyone was studying like heck.  Well, everyone except for James and Sirius of course.  Those two buffoons didn't study as much as the other people.  Take Lily Evans for example.  Lily was the kind of girl that studies when she's bored for crying out loud.  James and Sirius… well, they're guys.  You know what guys do when they're bored?  EAT. Food and pranks were the top priorities in James Potter and Sirius Black's eyes and that's basically all they ever did.  Sure they stopped to study once or twice, but being gifted themselves already… they didn't really need to.  That is why most of their time, along with the rest of Marauders when they took a break from studying, was spent in the kitchens or roaming around the castle.  

Lily Evans found James and Sirius' attitudes about their studies very disgusting.  _They would care about food rather than Charms? _she thought.  But she figured no one on the face of this planet will ever understand the minds of those two, and chose to ignore them.  What she couldn't ignore however… was the look on James's face in the Hospital Wing a couple of weeks before.  It was a rare time when James Potter had that kind of look on his face, and she couldn't stop thinking about it.  His father would be in grave danger, going off on a dangerous case like that… and she couldn't bear to wonder how she would feel if her parents were to put themselves in danger as well.  The thought was brought of her mind however, when the Marauders came bounding down from their room making a lot… I mean A LOT of noise.

"Damn those four idiots." said Lily while the other three girls were sitting beside her in the common room.

"Why can't they just act normal for once?" said Jade with a frustrated expression on her face.  She hated noise while she was studying, and right now was sending death glares at the Marauders.

"You know THAT will never happen." said Carly.

"Hmmm… you'll never know.  They're always full of surprises." mentioned Penny.

"And also full of themselves.  Look at Potter… the way he's ruffling his stupid hair.. probably thinks it looks cool or something." spat Lily.

"Well, at least he doesn't' call himself a 'god', unlike that prat Black over there." spat Jade. 

"Remus is the only sane one of the three" said Carly.  This was followed however by a huge fart noise that came by no one but Remus Lupin himself.

"I take that back.  They're all mutually dummies."

"Amen, sister." chorused the other three.

On the other side of the room, the Marauders were laughing hysterically, as Peter and Sirius secretly placed a small charm on Remus' loaf of bread that he brought with him at lunch so that when he finished the bread completely,  huge amounts of gas noises came from Remus' behind.

"You dweebs.  What the hell did you do to the bread! I knew I shouldn't have taken your stupid little offer." growled Remus.  Sirius and Peter stepped back.  It really did sound like a growl… you know… Remus being a werewolf and all.

"Just thought we'd poke a little fun at the 'calm and collective' side of the Marauders is all" said Sirius with a grin.  James was howling in laughter and Remus threw a nearby pillow at him.

"Hey, I didn't get you all riled up, it was those two over there." James said pointing to Sirius and Peter.

"That's riiiiiight Remmy my man," said Peter.  "It would be us that has blessed you with your gaseous talents."

"You're gonna get it, later you know that right?" said Remus.

"Oh…. right."

"Aww come on Remus!! It's not like it smells or anything." said Sirius.  Remus than let out a particularly loud one.

"Oh my God… Remus, that was real wasn't it! " shouted James as he covered his nose.

Remus just smiled.  "What goes around comes around boys."

"Shut up, Remus." spat Sirius.  He transfigured his quill to a clothespin and stuck it on his nose so that he wouldn't smell anything.  Peter looked as if he was about to faint.

They strolled up to the girls studying and plopped down right across from them.

"Remus Lupin, what is that smell?!" said Lily covering her nose while the others did the same.

"You just said the answer." said Sirius.  He sounded like a constipated pig with that clothesline on.

"Get away from us.. now.  We're trying to study."

"Now, now, Evans, you can't rid of us that easily."  
"Shut up, Potter, I was talking to you."

"No, but you were talking to US.  And in the English language.. 'us' is defined as a pronoun relating to one or more persons that you directly talk to.. which would be… well… us." said James laughing at his own joke.

"You're so lame, Potter."

"Shut up, Evans."

"BOTH OF YOU , SHUT UP!" said Jade.  There was noise again.

"Calm down now, pet." said Sirius with a grin.

"Calm?!?! You're telling me to be calm?!  How can I be calm when fart boy over here keeps on announcing his talents, the big mouth family over here keeps bickering, and you with that stupid clothesline in your face!"

Sirius looked scared.  "Uhh… I don't know."

"Ooooooo you're so irritating, you lot."

Carly and Penny were watching the scene in amusement giggling at the people in front of them.

"Potter, what are you doing?! Put you wand away! Hey!!" Lily tried to grab her parchment but it was too late.  

James set up a charm and floated Lily's homework essay in the air.  Suddenly a swirl was seen and words began to form.  It said:

'Lily… you're head is bleeding!! Oh.. no.. that's just your hair.'

The swirl came back and as words formed again, it said:

'Miss Evans has a kinky fetish with her books.' 

Lily was fuming and lunged at James who tried to run away but couldn't.  Lily was now currently on top of James slapping everything in sight.  James couldn't breathe.

"Geroff, Evans.. AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Lily's knee somehow managed to push into James' no-no spot and he was howling in pain.  The others were clutching their stomachs in laughter.

"That's not funny, Sirius!  How would you feel if that happened to you."

"All's fair, Jamesy.  You'd be laughing to if that were me."

James tried to get up but was having a bit of trouble.  He was walking bow-legged as if he just used the bathroom or something.

"Damn you , Evans.  You'll pay for this when I can walk properly again."

Lily just chuckled.  "Whatever, you prat."

The others were still laughing until Remus let out a huuuuuuge one.

"REMUS!!!!!" and they all threw pillows at him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For the rest of the night, James Potter was particularly sour at a sudden redhead.  He couldn't walk a straight line… literally.  He stumbled into the  Great Hall for the feast still walking like he just sat on a horse the whole day.  Yes.. it was THAT bad.  All of Lily's weight went into her knee, and although she is fairly light, that's not how it feels like.  James scowled at her and went to sit by his friends, who were snickering with delight.

"Shut up, you lot. It's not funny."

"Yes it is."

"Alright alright whatever."

They continued their snickering.

"Well you don't have to rub it in!"

"Obviously, you've been doing all the rubbing, James."

"Only you would come up with something like that, Black." said Remus irritably.  

"I'm going to get that bloody Evans back by the end of the night." said James.

"And how are you going to do that?"

"Sirius… nothing like a good ole' sneaking in the girls' dorms to brighten up her wardrobe a bit."

"That's the oldest trick in the book, James.  Lily will probably keep her trunk locked and stuff."

"Then I'll just have to sparkle up our little red-headed beauty then." snickered James.  

The rest of the Marauders shook their heads as they saw the all-too-familiar evil grin spread out on James Potter's face as he ate his dinner.

"So you three ready for that quidditch match or what?" asked Peter.

"Well, considering that Wood has trained us to death… I think we're up for it." muttered James.

"You ready for your first announcement, Petey?" asked Remus.

"Of course! Check this out… 'And Lupin gets the quaffle, and a bludger is heading straight for him… he tries to avoid it and… what's this… The bludger has dropped… no fainted!! Oh no! What's that smell?!?!? Remus!!!!!'."  The Marauders snickered as Peter finished.  Even Remus cracked a smile.  

"ANYWAYS…" said Remus.  "Five galleons says that Jamesy boy here fails with his miserable attempt to get back at Lily."

"You're on!" said Peter.  

Sirius hesitated… "Oh no… you're not betting with me again, Remus.  I lost a galleon to you on your stupid paper football game!"

"You didn't say anything about charming the paper to go through the hoop, now did you..  Come on.. Sirius…. I'll bet my collection of sweets."

"DEAL!" said Sirius and they shook.

"Remus… I have a feeling you're going to lose this one, pal." said James..

"James old boy… I have a feeling you'll do something stupid like trip on the stairs or something.

James just shook his head and began thinking of what to do to his fellow house enemy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well into the night, everyone was fast asleep….. almost everyone.  In the 2nd year boys dormitory four boys lingered out of their rooms and down to the common room.  The Marauders looked like they were going on another escapade again, but this time… James was going solo.  He had his wand out and his mind set.

"Remember, Remus.. five galleons and your whole collection of sweets that could last you a life time." squealed Sirius.

"Yes.. but it will only last you two hours." muttered Remus.

"Shut up, you guys… I'm trying to get into sneaky-mode here."

"Sorry there, mate." said Remus as the other two zipped their mouths shut.

James couldn't wait for it to happen.  He was going to charm Lily so that when she got out of her bed, she would sprout tentacles and have sign over head saying 'the lake squids' lost niece for sale'.  

"Oh the beauty of it all" whispered James to himself and he crept up the girls' dormitories stairs.    Step by step, he got closer to the girls' door when suddenly… he slipped.  James Potter, considering the althletic person he is.. never slips.. but that's because a slide had appeared in place of the stairs and he went drifting down to the bottom.

"What the heck?!"

"Ohhh… so that's Dumbledore's addition to the dorms, huh." said Sirius.  "Tough luck, James.. 

"No!" he hissed.  "I won't give up" He then began to climb up the railing of the stairs… surely there was nothing booby-trapped about that… when suddenly, the rails started to turn oily and wet… causing James… who was almost at the top to come sliding down.. 

and down…

and down…

and down some more…

and suddenly stopped… but his legs were spread and his groin area rammed straight into the post at the bottom.

Sirius, Remus, and Peter watched the whole scene, and when they saw James get railed smack into the post… they crossed their legs and covered their no-no spots too.  Seeing something as painful as that… you could almost feel it yourself.

James couldn't even breathe.  He just let himself fall to the ground and just laid there… in terrible, terrible pain.

Remus' face turned red.  "Well it looks as if I should take divination next year… I did say you'd fall down the stairs…" he said trying his best to hold in his laughter.  The others were turning red too, with their faces all puffy and looked about to explode.

James looked about to explode too… explode with a screech of pain, but instead in a very girly voice he managed a "Ouch." and this caused silent laughter from the Marauders.  Sirius, Remus, and Peter were all on the floor, clutching their stitched stomachs in laughter and pointing straight at James.  About two minutes later, he got up and hastily tried walking back towards the boys' room.  He turned to look at his friends….

"It's not funny." he said still in that high pitched voice causing them to roll over and over again still cracking up silently, yet again as it died down from before.

James then had the urge to make an obscene gesture to his friends… but he remembered the last time he stuck out the finger to Sirius… he got in deep trouble with his mother.  In his state, he didn't want any more bad luck to come to him and just hobbled into the room… the other boys still trying to catch their breath.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, that chapter was rather interesting, don't you think?? Damn… sucks to be James Potter right now, doesn't it. haha.  It's just like in There's Something About Mary… when Ben Stiller gets bitten in the genitals by Mary's dog… damn.. everyone could almost feel it.  It's the exact same thing with our boy James Potter here.  Haha oh it was fun torturing him… but you know.. he gets the girl in the end.  So it's even.  Bye for now.


	25. Dagger in the Lion's Heart

"Gambling sucks." said Sirius, handing over his money to Remus.  "I was going to put those to good use."

"Sure, Sirius…  you were going to give it to charity.  You're only mad because you lost your money for your dungbombs."

Sirius grinned.  "You know me too well, Remus."

The day after the "genital accident", James didn't want to get up.  He knew his friends all too well.  That night was a night to remember, and also a very good story to tell, so he decided to himself to stay in his bed the whole day.  This, however, was interrupted because Sirius flipped his bed over and James fell on the floor with a loud *thump *.  

"What the hell was that for?!"

"Now, now, James, watch your language."

"Shut up, Sirius.. now can you please tell me why you did that?

"Quidditch."

James shot up excitedly and turned to the four boys.  "Quidditch?"

"Quidditch."

After washing up, the Marauders marched down towards the Great Hall for breakfast.  They saw the rest of the team eating their food slowly, but James and Sirius could never go through a day, especially a Quidditch day, without their breakfast, so they devoured their breakfast almost immediately.  Remus and Peter were watching them amusedly.  All four boys, including Peter, were actually pretty nervous about the game, but they all didn't want to show it like the rest of them did.  Arthur Weasley, the back-up seeker, looked like he was about to faint, and Paul Wood, their captain, looked as pale as a ghost.  Soon, the rest of the school came down for breakfast talking with excitement about the game that was about to take place.

"Gryffindor vs. Slytherin.  It should be brutal."

"Yeah, those two houses hate each other the most."

"Well, I am not very fond of those Slytherins, either.  So I'm rooting for Gryffindor."

"Yeah, me too."

Many other conversations were overheard such as those and about fifteen minutes later, Wood stood up and announced to the team to head towards the locker rooms.  Peter wished the three boys luck as they walked out, and soon Peter was joined by the girls, minus Jade.

"Hey Pete, excited about the game today?" asked Penny.

"Yeah, I'm announcing it.  Should be a good one.  Our team is actually pretty good this year."

"I don't know.. those Slytherins are pretty nasty." said Carly.

"Yeah….." said Peter as he and the rest of the group started to worry about their friends more.  Jade was definitely vulnerable for injury considering the position she plays, which is a Beater.  The remaining Marauders were guaranteed to be targets for the Slytherin Beaters.  They continued eating their breakfast and hurried to the dorms when they finished to wash up before the game.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the locker rooms, Remus was holding his stomach in nervousness as Sirius was pacing back and forth, trying to calm himself down.  The rest of the team was either getting pumped up, or throwing up in the toilets from nausea, or too much breakfast perhaps.  James, however, was just staring off into space, not showing any emotion.  Wood tried calling his name, but James wouldn't listen.  He was concentrating on the task at hand.  Sirius and Remus knew this side of James.  He would always be like this when he was focused on something that he wants, and they knew that he wanted to win.  He wanted to prove himself as the best.  

"Team.  This is our first game together.  We must not falter at the Slytherins' antics and keep to our game!!  Brian, you stay high and away from those bloody bludgers as possible.  Chapman, Bagman, you fly around and keep those bludgers away from us.  As a matter of fact, don't hesitate to aim some of your shots at them.  James, Sirius, Remus…. you three, I'm counting on you three to keep the game in check.  Score as much as possible." said Wood trying to give strategy to his team.  James was still staring, but nodded along with Sirus and Remus.  Soon, a booming noise came from the pitch and the three boys recognized it as Peter.

"LADIES AND GENTLMEN, WITCHES AND WIZARDS, PROFESSORS OF ALL AGES…. HOGWARTS WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY, PROUDLY BRINGS TO YOU… THE FIRST GAME OF THE SEASON!! IT'S Q----U--------IDDITCH TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!" shouted Peter.

This hyped up the crowd as everyone started screaming.  Peter was definitely good at this announcing business.  The girls in the stands along with Frank and Alice, who finally found time within their relationship to hang out with them (as Lily mentioned to them earlier), screamed their lungs out and watches as seven figures of red and gold soared through the air for their warm-ups.

"Look, look!! There's our girl, Jade.  Jade!!!!!!!!!" screamed Lily while the rest of them cheered for her as well.  Jade seemed to give them a half-smile before flying off.  James, Sirius, and Remus were weaving in and out, and the girls cheered for them as well.  Lily was half-cheering for Potter, since she hated him, but then caught a look at his face.  His face seemed care-free, filled with no worry.  It had that familiar mischievous look, but it was also a look of content, a look of freedom.  Lily could tell by his face, that James loved this game.  She smiled to herself and watched the teams warm up.

Madame Hooch, the flying instructor and quidditch referee, stepped up and released the snitch.  Its tiny golden wings fluttered in all directions and quickly sped off away from sight.  Then she released the bludgers… as they flew wildly across the field.  Finally, Madame Hooch brought out the quaffle… and motioned for the players to get ready.  

"Ready… and…… fly!" shouted Hooch as she threw the quaffle in the air.

James shot up for the quaffle ahead of Lucius Malfoy, who were Chasers along with Severus Snape and Rodolphus LeStrange.  It was just like last year when the six went head to head in the flying sessions… but this time, it was for house pride.  James shot up along with Lucius… Malfoy caught up and they were neck and neck for the quaffle… and James flew right past the quaffle… baffling Malfoy as he stopped. 

It was then picked up closely by Sirius and they had control of the quaffle.

"AND IT'S POTTER GOING UP FOR THE QUAFFLE… WAIT! HE GOES RIGHT PAST IT! WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS HE DOING- - - OH NEVERMIND NOT BLACK TAKES THE QUAFFLE!"

"Mr. Pettigrew…" warned McGonagall who was supervising his commentary.

"MIND MY LANGUAGE, PLEASE, PROFESSOR. ANYWAY BLACK HAS IT…BLACK WEAVING AROUND IN THE SIDE LOOKING… DROPS IT BACK TO LUPIN.. LUPIN DODGES A BLUDGER… SEES JAMES CUTTING IN AND TRIES TO MAKE A PASS – OHHH! INTERCEPTED BY SNAPE THE GIT… I MEAN SNAPE THE CHASER.. SORRY PROFESSOR.  HERE'S SNAPE, HIT OFF COURSE BY A BLUDGER FROM CHAPMAN! AND IT'S POTTER… GOING.. GOING… FAKES THE PASS… SEES THE HOOP.. SCORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 10-0 GRYFFINDOR!!!."

Peter was getting into his system and the crowd was getting into the game.  It went back and forth, Gryffindor and Slytherin scoring one after the other and after about 20 minutes, it was 60-50 in favor of Gryffindor.

Lily and the others were cheering madly for their dorm mates… and they were pumped.  She could see the chemistry within James, Sirius, and Remus.  You could swear that they could play with each other even if they were blindfolded.

James, Sirius, and Remus were tearing up the field left and right.  Almost every time they had possession of the quaffle, they scored, and when they didn't have it, they took it back almost lazily. The Slytherins were getting angry and ended up fouling them countless times, which followed by comments such as…

"THAT HORRIBLE GIT.. .SNIVELLUS I HOPE YOU ROT IN… SORRY PROFESSOR!"

Yes that was Peter announcing.  No one thought he would have that kind of personality, as he was always the straggler of the Marauders.  Still, these were his friends he was announcing and he wanted to do his best for him because he knew they would do the same.

Every time the Slytherins fouled, Gryffindor scored easily, so they gave up that tactic.  One other stragey, however, could still be accomplished… and at that point their strategy was being put into action…………

for the snitch was seen.

"AND THERE GOES KRUM! HE'S FOLLOWED CLOSELY BEHIND BY FLYNT… THOSE SEEKERS CAN REALLY FLY… UP AND DOWN THEY GO, WEAVING PAST PLAYERS LEFT AND RIGHT… OHHH! KRUM IS SLOWED DOWN BY A PERFECT SCREEN FROM SNIVELLUS… I MEAN SNAPE, SORRY PROFESSOR.  THEY'RE NECK AND NECK… AND… AWWW DAMN! FLYNT NUDGES KRUM AND SNAGS THE SNITCH.  GRYFFINDOR LOSES TO SLYTHERIN 280 – 200."

The last part was announced lazily by Peter as the Gryffindor team slumped towards the ground.  Slytherins piled their team and announced of their party, while the rest just went back to the Tower, disappointed that Gryffindor had lost, despite the three "super-chasers" as some first years called them.

Later in the locker rooms, Wood was currently drowning himself in the shower.  Jade, Sirius, and Remus threw a fit and were currently hexing everyone that talked to them as they walked towards their dorms.  James walked towards the Lion's Heart… and sat in the tree thinking.  This was his designated spot he decided when he needed a place to clear his thoughts.  Now was the perfect time to clear his thoughts… because one thought came into his mind….

_We lost._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Hmm… that is their first quidditch game together.  I know I know… Remus isn't supposed to be a chaser because of his condition, but if you keep reading you will find out.  Everything may seem weird to you right now, but just keep reading and it may satisfy your thoughts.  Gradually, things will come into place.  Everyone says James is a seeker, but as of right now, he's not.. and I get the final say because it is my story after all.. haha.  This is turning into AU… so it's not going to follow the book… but it'll be somewhat close to it.  The relationship of Lily and James… will be a complicated one.  One reviewer said that she is tired of the bickering and pranks… well isn't that all twelve year olds do??? Haha nah I'll make it more interesting as their lives get more complicating… I promise.  Just keep reading if you want… I'll try and keep writing.  Sorry if this chapter isn't that great.  Peace easy.**


	26. Inital Breakdowns and a look at Fear Him...

"Jade… will you calm down?!?! It's only a game!" exclaimed Lily while shielding herself from Jade's random hexes.

"Only a game?!?!  How can you say that, Lily!! We should've won!! If it wasn't for that git Flynt, we would've won!  Sirius, you, James, and Remus should've scored more!"

"Oh, so now it's our fault… well if you and Bagman could do a better job keeping those bloody bludgers out of the way, then just MAYBE we would score a little more!" shouted Sirius.

"We did our best… it was YOU who was showing off.. you three, honest to Merlin, why can't you just deflate your heads just for once and do something right."

"LEAVE REMUS OUT OF THIS! IT WASN'T HIS FAULT.  IN FACT, YOU SHOULD BE THANKING REMUS.. HE SCORED THE LAST TWO GOALS!"

Jade thought for a while and said, "You know what. you're right.  Remus played awesome.. it was you and Potter who kept on showboating." spat Jade.

"We were TRYING OUT BEST!"

"WELL YOU'RE BEST ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH!"

"Oh… enough the both of you!!" shouted Lily, with Carly and Penny nodding in agreement.  "It was no one's fault.  Just take the loss and move on.  It's in the past already."

Sirius and Jade stopped arguing and just turned their backs to each other in a childish manner signaling the end of their quarrel.  Lily rolled her eyes and went back to work.  Remus came in all depressed and Jade felt a little more guilty blaming him along with James and Sirius.  Remus however smiled a little showing that he was a good sport about it.  Peter followed closely behind and with a coarse voice asked,

"Where's James?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What did I do wrong?" was what James said to himself as he was walking slowly back to the dormitories.  He was trying to figure out what went wrong during the quidditch match.  He didn't even go to eat dinner afterwards.  From a distance, he could hear the sounds of shouting and screaming.. probably coming from the Slytherin common room.  Houses usually held parties each time they won a quidditch match, and James assumed that they were throwing a huge fest considering they beat Gryffindor, their arch-rival.  He was disgusted at the fact that he was beaten by Slytherins.  James hated to lose, yet he learned how to take it without a childish manner.  His dad, who was an excellent quidditch player himself taught him to be a good loser.  

James walked back into the common room to find no one else but Lily Evans studying as usual by the fireplace.  He didn't want to have a run-in with her at the moment so decided to just go up to the dormitories.  Lily looked up and saw James walk up to his room and saw the look of sadness in his eye.  'One of those rare moments again' she thought and closed her book.

"Good game, Potter."

"Yeah… yeah I guess."

"It's not your fault, ya know."

"I know… but hey.. Slytherin is a good team, though I hate to admit it."

"Yeah.. tough luck.  Good luck calming down Sirius."

"I guess…  I have bigger things to worry about." said James and he gave her a little wave before walking into his dorm.  Lily knew exactly what he meant by his last statement.  He was talking about his dad hunting down Voldemort.  

James couldn't sleep that night.  The past two weeks for him were almost unbearable.  The news of his father leaving home, and the fact that he lost his first ever quidditch game were the main reasons of his lack of slumber.  He looked over to the sleeping figures of Sirius, Remus, and Peter.  Ah, yes, his best friends.  Without them, James would be nothing…  it was them that brought the adventure out of himself just like he did with them.  Yes… their friendship was mutual.  He knew they would be there through thick and thin with whatever problem he was faced with.  He then looked out into the window and saw a shooting star.  He remembered a muggle tradition that wishes come true when wished upon a shooting star.  He decided to follow this and closed his eyes wishing for his father's safety………………………..  

Little did he know that Miss Lily Evans was doing the exact same thing.  Yes, she hated James Potter, but she didn't want anyone to die.  Her father means so much to her, and she figured that James looked up to his dad quite a bit.  For once, she realized how lucky she is to have her parents.  Some had no parents, or had to suffer a loss of one, and she wished none of that on ANYONE… yes, not even James Potter himself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Weeks passed and the loss of their quidditch match was soon forgotten by the Marauders.  Sirius and Jade were on speaking terms again, and James and Lily seemed to have forgotten their moment of civilness towards each other the night of the match, constantly fighting with each other whenever they were in the same room.  

Wood, the captain, however, was one of the few that didn't forget about the loss of the team, and held practice every other day, and sometimes on weekends.  The practices were long and hard, and the team would come back highly exhausted and angry at their dictating captain.

"That Wood is going to be the death of me one day." said Sirius.

"Tell me about it.  Even I'm not that obsessed with winning." grumbled James.

"Ummm.. guys… I took a look at the schedule of quidditch for the rest of the year," said Remus.  "And everything is fine.. but in the later years, what if one of the games comes on a full moon night?"

"Hmmm… that's a good one to think about, Remmy." said Sirius.  "I don't know."

"Well, I guess I would have to quit after this season then."

"No!!! That would literally suck." said James.

"I have no other choice."

"Well, it looks as if we're going to have undo your winless record, bud." said Sirius.  

"Yup! Gives me more reason to train now."

"Thanks, guys."

"And just what are you four dolts babbling about now." said Carly with a smirk as she walked in with the rest of the girls.

"We're talking bubbles.  Why are you here?" replied James.

"Duh genius, we live here." said Lily.

"Sod off, Evans."

"Oh, no… not you two again." groaned Penny.  "Honestly, I thought coming here would be peaceful and calming… and then I met you two."  The other snickered and Penny let out a huff.

"Don't even laugh, you two are just as bad." she said pointing to Jade and Sirius.  
"Hey, now.. we're not as bad as them."

"Yeah, we do it because we actually mean it.  James and Lily do it because they like each other."

"How could I like that garbage?" questioned Lily.  James grinned, but Lily's scowl erased his grin in a second.

"Don't be so harsh, Evans.  What's stuck up your…." Nothing else was heard because Lily put a silencing charm on James.  It was amusing to see James still talking in silence not knowing that everyone had no idea what he was saying, but were just looking at him funny.  They then started laughing at him when it looked as if he was screaming at Lily to undo the charm.  Lily just smiled and walked off into the room as Remus shook his head and muttered the counter-curse.

"I'M GOING TO GET YOU, EVANS, YOU RED-HEADED DEVIL!"

Sirius scoffed.  "Sure, James… just 'slide' right in there and get her back.  I dare you.

"Double dare." said Peter.

"Double hippogriff dare!" said Remus.

James pouted and sat down in silence.  He wasn't about to get his jewels all messed up again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Somewhere far away from any sign of civilization, a tall, hooded figure was standing in a house, mixing up some sort of potion.  Nearby, a snake was slithering closer and closer.. looking ready to strike his prey.  However, instead of attacking, the snake slid up his leg and towards his shoulders as the man continued mixing the unknown potion in the cauldron.

"Ah, Nagini.. I see you have already devoured your dinner."

The snake just hissed as if answering its master's statement.

"Those filthy mudbloods.  I'm sick of just killing them.  Next time I make an attack, I want the whole bloody world to know.  And this.. ah yes.. this will do the trick."

He added a few more drops of a horned toad's blood and a cloud of smoke shot up revealing a large green skull with a snake slithering around and around it. 

"The Dark Mark.  Yes, Nagini, this mark will be infamous!  Fear will be struck to those who see it, and death will be given to those who defy it… NOW EVERYONE WILL KNOW WHO LORD VOLDEMORT IS!  THEY'LL EVEN BE AFRAID TO SAY MY VERY NAME!"

The man pulled out his wand, and the shape of the Dark Mark was then absorbed by the wand.  The man smiled.

"Now, on to other business.  There are people who will support my activities… I must recruit them… and then we'll take a look at that bloody mudblood lover Godric's journal again.  He thought he could hide his secrets.  This is what he gets for trusting no-good mudbloods with his things!   His talk of a great power.. nonsense! Maybe Tom Riddle would be afraid and doubtful, but no.  Tom Riddle is no longer in existence.  I am the Great Power… I am the embodiment of Fear, Death himself is afraid of my presence.  I am the Almighty Dark Lord, Heir of Salazar Slytherin himself…….

I AM VOLDEMORT.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Our first encounter with Voldemort himself.  Not that spooky, but that's my first time talking about that git.  Seriously, just saying his name pisses me off sometimes haha but that's how much I am into Harry Potter ya know?  Well, that's my chapter.  I'll be updating slowly, do don't expect rapid updates like before.  I still can't believe I did those first 15 chapters in a week.  Keep the reviews coming! Love to hear from all different points of views.  Thanks again for reading up to here.. hope you continue your faith in this story.


	27. Annual Thanksgiving Feast Prank

And I am back with this story….. hmmm this chapter might not be as good as all the other ones… but hey, I'm just updating because I myself want to see what happens to Lily and James in the end.  As you all know… this is a from-the-top-of-the-head story… it's not all planned out or anything… so yeah.  I'm just goin with the flow… so shoots then!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Weeks went by and the students of Hogwarts finally found themselves preparing for the Thanksgiving feast.  Slytherins on the other hand… were constantly looking back and forth because they knew that every time there is a special schoolwide event, there would always be a personal event for them… and it was given by the Marauders.  Snape and Malfoy especially, were on the look-out and usually had two cronies named Crabbe and Goyle looking out for them.

Meanwhile in the Gryffindor common room just hours before the feast….

"Lily calm down… " 

"Calm down Jade?!?! How can I calm down when that no-good low-life Potter keeps playing practical jokes on me!! I hate it when he does those silly pranks."

"Well, you gotta admit… they are pretty funny." laughed Jade.  "I mean, who else besides James Potter would think of something charming… yet so bloody hilarious."

"It's not funny, Jade.  I thought you were my best friend.  You think hair-eating lilies is funny?! Why I oughta…"

"Easy there, my friend… we'll get you to the Hospital Wing in no time."

Lily walked along with Jade to the Hospital Wing to get her hair regrown from Madam Pomfey.  She was fuming at her as well, because she noticed the slight twinkle of amusement in Madam Pomfey's eyes when she walked into the Wing with Jade.

_'I should slap that stupid smile off of her face' _thought Lily, but decided otherwise when she thought about the consequences.  After all, she has heard of Madam Pomfey's temper when encountering a certain James Potter.

Meanwhile, James was in total hysterics and was in the dormitories getting ready for the big Thanksgiving feast.

"James, I don't think it was such a good idea to you know… get on Lily's bad side like that." said Remus.

"Yeah!! Especially on an eventful day like this!!" shouted Sirius.

"Oh come on, guys, lighten up! It was only a joke."

Remus countered.  "You know that the joke was on Lily."

"Yes I know… but…."

"And you know how mad she gets…"

"Well, yeah… "

"And you know that she WILL get you back…"

"Well… well… ahh bloody hell Remus thanks for taking away my glory."

"Anytime James my friend." chuckled Remus.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Soon the Great Hall was filled with the Four Houses of students as well as Professors in time for the feast.   The kids were eager to grind down on the upcoming food that was prepared for them.  Professor Dumbledore waited for all the older years to join as some have just came back from their Hogsmeade trip.  As soon as most of them were seated, he stood up and began to speak.

"Good evening everyone and welcome to the Annual Hogwarts Thanksgiving Feast.  We hope that you older years have enjoyed your day in Hogsmeade and we hope that you all have a great night tonight.  Well, as I can see from all your faces, you children must be dreadfully starving, so…… dig in!"

As soon as he clapped his hands, the empty plates and trays began piling with delicious main courses and desserts and the students piled their plates up with whatever they could find.  A very disgruntled Lily came walking in with Jade about five minutes into dinnertime, and you could hear a roar of laughter coming from a particular part of the Gryffindor table.  Coincidentally, it was at the place where the Marauders were sitting along with Carly, Penny, Frank, and Alice.  Lily scowled at the smiling James and showed him an 'I'll-get-you-back-soon' look that wiped the smile off of his face momentarily.

"So.. uhh, James.  When's the plan gonna work?" asked Peter.

"Scheming things again, are we?" chided Carly.

Remus smiled sheepishly.  "Just a tad."

"A tad… oh you'll be in for a wild one." said Sirius.

James smiled at his three friends.  "It's almost set… as soon as Snape touches his dessert, then the fun begins."

"Potter, you and your childish pranks.  I swear one day they will backfire on you and I will be there to laugh in your face."

"Well, luckily Evans, none has backfired so far.  Hope you liked the flowers I gave you by the way."

Lily snorted and dropped her spoon onto her plate.  "I'll get you back, Potter."

"I can hardly wait." said James with a serious look.  Deep down however, his heart was trembling in fear.

All of a sudden a loud BANG! was heard throughout the Hall and everyone turned towards the noise, coming from the Slytherin table.  As soon as the smoke cleared, whatever was revealed behind the smoke brought everyone to hysterics.

There stood Severus Snape, Lucius Malfoy, Rodolphus Lestrange, and their two body guards Crabbe and Goyle all dressed up nicely in funky-colored zoot suits, with their hair all shriveled up into some kind of 1930's style.  Suddenly another bang was heard and a bunch of other Slytherins suddenly became a band and began playing an uptempo swing beat.  The beat grew catchy and soon everyone was bobbing their head with the music, and the five Slytherins were swing dancing their way around the Hall, pelvic thrusting themselves right in front of Professor McGonagall's face.  It was definitely a sight to see.  

The Marauders smiled their innocent smiles as they watched their victims made utter fools of themselves… and eventually ended up cracking up when Snape thrust his pelvis a bit too far under McGonagall's nose.

"We decided to keep things harmless, after all that embarrassemtn last year." said James in between laughs.

Jade was cracking up.  "Well, I must say boys… this is sure one heck of a show!! Look at the look on McGonagall's face!!  It's priceless!"

Lily even smiled a little at the 'major' prank that the Marauders pulled on their favorite targets.  Slowly she began to realize that maybe the boys are growing up a little bit.  Their pranks aren't as harmful as before to the Slytherins… just intensely embarrassing.  She then shuddered at being on the receiving end of a full-fledged Marauder prank.  James himself, she could handle.  She would always retaliate whenever James tried to pull a fast one on her, but the Marauders together… oh what a team.  She realized that together those four boys could accomplish anything.  She then looked at her four girl friends and realized that they could do just about anything too as long as they set their minds to it.  Jade, Penny, Carly, and Alice grinned back at her and then continued watching the "Swing Dancin Slytherins" in action.

It was this very night when Lily realized the power of friendship.

But in the back of her mind… she was secretly planning her revenge on James Potter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**There you go…… another chapter.  Whew! That was hard! Haha oh well… hopefully things will spice up as I go along!  Shoots then everyone, I'll see you laters.**


	28. Weird pastries and Wrong Punctuations

I'd just like to say thanks to all the reviewers who have faithfully reviewed over and over and over again even through my long drought of this story.  It seems as if I'm spending too much time in their second year so I'm going to speed things up a little bit.  To all who faithfully read this, thanks a million for your time and hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Classes were getting extremely difficult by the time Christmas time started coming around. It felt like double the work that they ever had because their midterms were a review of everything they have learned the past year and a half that the students have been at Hogwarts.  Most students could be found in the library looking up extra tidbits of notes, or in their respective common rooms burying their heads in textbooks.

In the Gryffindor common room, everyone was mostly studying for Transfiguration, mainly because they wanted to show their Head of House that they have worked hard in her class and partly because they wanted to have a party as soon as exams were over.  Lily, Carly, Penny, and Jade were among the many studying on that subject.  Unlike their counterparts, mainly James and Sirius, they weren't doing so hot in Transfiguration and were determined to ace the exam one way or another.

"I can stare at this bloody book till my eyes, burn holes in them, and I still won't be able to understand a thing at what it says." said Jade banging her head on the table.

"At least you can do the basics.  I, however, CANNOT do a damn thing!" said Carly in exasperation.

"Carly! Watch your mouth!" scolded Lily appalled at Carly's behavior.  Normally she didn't act like this, but that's what exams do to you.

"Sorry, I just can't seem to get it.  And I'm behind in Herbology, I'm barely gonna get enough sleep tonight thanks to stupid Astronomy, and Charms can kiss my sorry….."

"Carly!" shouted Lily one more time.  "Don't you dare finish that sentence.  I'll help you in Charms, and I'm sure you'll do fine in all the others."

"Pfft… easy for you to say, miss know-it-all.  I don't even know why you bother to study."

"It's not like I'm a hotshot at Transfiguration either." said Lily.  "That is my worse class!"

Penny scowled along with the others.  "Lily…. you're getting a 90%."

"Yeah, and one false move and I'm down to the 80's!  I can't live with myself if that ever happened!"

Jade rolled her eyes.  "Oh my.. the world is coming to an end.  Come on, Lily.  Get a grip.  You know you know everything."

"Well I don't.  It's not like I'm a super genius or anything.  I have to work just as hard as you three, so let's just get back to work."

The other three shook their heads and then stopped abruptly when they saw Lily's cold stare.  After a couple of minutes, Jade once again tore her eyes away from the book and decided to stretch a little bit.  She looked around the room.

"It seems as if everyone is in school-mode."

"Duh, Jade.  We are in school if you haven't noticed."

"Quit being smart, Penny! That's Lily's job."

"Hey!!!"

"Well you always have those smart things to say."

"Yeah… I guess so." Lily said cheekily.  "But not everyone is in 'school-mode' as you call it.  I can name exactly four people that don't have their heads in books."

"Ah yes, our measly bloody Marauders are nowhere to be found." said Jade.

"Where do you think they are?" asked Carly.

"I'd say up to no good." said Penny.

"As usual." added Lily.  

"I don't blame them.  In fact I kinda admire them that they find time to have fun at a time like this." said Jade.  "Why can't we do that, huh?"

"Because we're smarter than they are." snapped Lily.   Apparently she was still a little competitive with James ever since the final exams of last year.  She didn't want him to beat her again.

The girls continued their eternal study session, but one thing was held in the back of their minds….

_'Where were those bloody prats, anyway?'_

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

"I can't believe she did that to you, James." said Peter.

"Well I can… that girl's capable of anything." muttered James.

"Especially when it involves making James' clothes run away from him all throughout breakfast.  It was classic.  You should've seen your face!" laughed Sirius as he ducked from one of James' swings.

"Shut up, Sirius.  That wasn't funny.  Right Remus?……. Remus…."

James turned around to find Remus in silent laughter.  "Sorry, chap, can't back you up there.  It's a shame you had to be wearing those lovely teddy bear boxers on that particular morning, James.  That only made things worse."

"Go ahead.  Everyone make fun of James Potter!  He's your friend.. that's right.. laugh in his face!"

And they did.

"Cheer up, Jamesy!!!" said Sirius as he threw an arm around James.  "One day you'll back at this and laugh.  I mean, look at what's happened to you so far this year.  You had your nuts bruised and battered… twice.  Your clothes have avoided you for most of one morning, and it's only half over!! I can't wait to see what else is in store for our fearless leader."

James just sulked and thought back when he tried to get up the girls' dormitories and not being able to walk straight the rest of the night.  He then began to smile.  "Yeah I guess I've had a bit of bad luck.  But hey!! A whole new year is coming… and right now, I want to end this one with a Marauder Feast! To the kitchens!"

"To the kitchens!" chorused the other three as they made their way to the infamous fruitbowl portrait.  

While in the kitchen, the Marauders ate and ate and ate some more.  The house-elves have become more acquainted with them and took a liking to their frequent visitors.

"Anything else sirs?" asked Mindy, one of the head chefs.

"Another round of the the usual, please." said Sirius with a mouthful.

"You know guys, we really should be studying for the exams coming up." mentioned Remus.

"Remmy, old buddy, only you would think of school at a time like this." said James.

"Well, I don't want to fail."

"You won't fail.  Come on… we're geniuses!" shouted Sirius.

"No, that would be Lily." said Remus.

"Evans?!?! I don't think so.  That girl is far from being smart."

"James, you out of all of us should know that Lily Evans is no dummy."

"Yeah… but she's always studying!! She needs a bit of fun in her life."

"I think they all do.  Those girls are getting awfully cranky.  I guess that's what girls do as they get older, huh.  What's their problem anyway?"

"I don't know, but I have learned to stay out of their way when that happens." said James.

"You don't think it's some kind of a disease do you?" asked Sirius.

"I'm not sure, maybe it's just because they're maturing or something?"

"Them?  Mature?? Yeah right!!" said Sirius.

"Five galleons says they are saying the same thing about us." said Remus.

"Now that's just not fair.  Of course they are.  We're only twelve.  We don't have time for that maturing business.  We only have time for fun!" shouted James.

The house-elves then returned with countless pastries, rice cakes, brownies, and butterbeer.

"And food!!" added James as soon as he saw their second helping arrive.

As they were about to eat, a dawning look came over Peter and the others were looking at him.

"You alright, Pete?" asked Remus.

"Yeah… but I was just thinking… you know how the girls are always so cranky?"

"Yeah…"

"Well maybe it's because they just started having their…"

Peter never got to finish that sentence because Sirius spit a load of pastries all over Peter's face and began gagging.  James choked on his butterbeer and Remus almost fell off his chair while eating a brownie.

"Geez… Sirius you prat what was that for?!"

"Peter!!! I can't believe you would mention such a thing.  That didn't come into mind until you….. you…… gahh!"

"Well it's probably true!"

"Yes, it is Pete," said Remus.  "But you gotta realize that WE'RE EATING HERE!!"

"Oh…. sorry." said Peter in a squeaky voice.

"How do you even know about that stuff anyway?" asked James.

"Well, I don't know… I was in Herbology class and all of a sudden some Hufflepuff girl turns around and just starts rambling about it to me."

"Where were we?"

"Well, you were too busy trying to chase after your pants, and Remus and Sirius were too busy laughing their pants off."

"Oh, it was THAT day… well you could've just ignored her you know." said Remus.

"Yeah, but what else was I supposed to do when she just turns around and grabs me.  I got scared."

"I would be too…" shuddered James.

"I will never look at a raspberry pastry the same again." said Sirius.

James then looked at the pastry.  "Oh, damn you Sirius, now you got me into it.  Now it looks nasty… thanks a lot!!"

The boys then looked all over their food and then looked at each other…..

"EWWWWWWWWW" was all they could manage before they started gagging again.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

The girls were miraculously still studying by the time the boys walked out from the portrait hole.  They gave the boys funny looks because they looked like they just seen a ghost or something.

"Guys… what's the matter?" asked Lily.

"Nothing, Evans… it's none of your business."

"I was asking the guys, not the hedgehogs."

"Ha ha, Evans."

"You two don't get started.  Nothing happened.  We just came back to study since we have been doing none of that so far today.  Mind if we join you?" asked Remus politely.

"Well, if you put it that way, we do need a bit of help in Transfiguration." said Jade.

The boys got their books and came back to study with them for a bit.  An hour later, the girls were grading each other's History of Magic essays while the boys were still studying for Potions.

"Hey, Jade, how do you know if you do a good essay in this class?" asked Penny.

"Oh, Professor Binns just gives a little check on the side.  But if you do a really good job, he'll put one of those cute little stamp-ons.

The boys looked up.  "Tampons?!?! What about tampons?" asked Sirius suspiciously.

The girls just looked at him funny.  "No, STAMP-ons Sirius." said Carly

"Oh…"

"Why did you say.."

"Nothing!! Nothing at all, I'm just hearing things, you know me!" said Sirius while the other boys were looking down trying to hide their faces.

"Riiiight…" said Lily.  "Well, anyway I'm taking a break.  I just so happened to sneak away this pastry from the Great Hall at dinner.  It's my favorite.  I just love the raspberry ones!"

Sirius then ran out of the common room.

"What's his problem?" asked Lily.

"Nothing… really… " said Remus.  "Just a Marauder thing."

"Ok… "

"Don't worry about Evans… it's really nothing." replied a very pale James.  Lily then began eating the pastry merrily and suddenly Peter began to feel a little woozy and excused himself from the group.

"Something's going on here…" said Penny.  "You are all acting weird."

"Well you know us!" said James trying to cover up and giving them a fake smile.

"Uhh Lily… you forgot your period at the end of this sentence." said Carly.

"WHAT!! I ALWAYS HAVE MY PERIODS!!"

Remus and James couldn't take it any longer.

"Excuse us." said James while grabbing a very sick Remus.  They ran up towards their dormitories and slammed the door shut.

"Ok, what just happened there."  said Carly 

"No idea." said Penny

"That was weird." replied Jade.

The four girls just looked at each other in astonishment, still in confusion to what just happened.  The only thing they could manage to say was…

"Boys."

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**


	29. Detention

How'd you like that last chapter, eh?  Haha I thought it was actually pretty funny… do girls have those when they're 12?? I don't know anything about that, but hey.. it's still funny!!  Another chapter in the making, so here we go….

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

The Christmas season went by quickly for the students at Hogwarts.  One day they were leaving the train to see their families again, and it seemed like the next day they were once again back at Hogwarts ready for the second semester.  

The Marauders spent most of their break either planning pranks or just playing quidditch at James' house.  They finally got to meet Peter's parents for the first time, and were rather frightened of his grandmother, who lived with them.  The grandmother would tell them weird stories about her days at Hogwarts back when 'society was civil.'

Lily spent another Christmas with her family back home, and even invited Jade's family over, since they lived in the same district as the Evans'.  This Christmas was more fun for Lily not only because she got to spend it with a friend, but also it was double the torture for Petunia considering all the trouble Lily and Jade caused.

Jade found Lily's family to be absolutely charming… except for Petunia.  She understood why Lily really didn't like her sister all that much.  Petunia was a downright prat.  Still, she got to spend time with her best friends, so the presence of Petunia didn't get the best of either of them.

Carly and Penny spent their Christmas together as well.  The two shared each other's secrets and slept over each other's house.  They were very close, much as Lily and Jade, but they missed the other two about as much as the others missed them.  They couldn't wait to get back to Hogwarts as soon as the last night of their holiday came upon them.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

The reuniting of the four girls was a rather mushy eventful one, as they hugged each other fiercely and even sprouted a little tears.  The boys walked out of the compartment as soon as they witnessed this.  

"Bunch of mushy stuff." was all that Sirius could say.

When the train arrived at Hogwarts, the Marauders began unpacking their things, and left the girls in the train as they were still talking about their vacation.  Finally, Hagrid managed to pull the girls out and they were all on their way back to their dormitories.

As soon as they were all settled, they headed down to lunch, and once again Lily and James found something to argue about.

"You know, Evans, I was looking forward to coming to school again, but then I remembered I'd have to see your icky face."

"I can say the same for you.  You irritate me."

"Awww, are you mad that I didn't get you a gift this Christmas? Poor Wittle Lily."

"Shut up, Potter.  My gifts were perfectly fine, and I didn't need your germs getting all over my other presents."

"Evans, you are one disturbed little girl."

They continued this arguing all the way to the Great Hall.

Sirius then whispered to Carly.  "I'd say things are back in business."

When they got to the table, they sat together and Lily and James were STILL bickering at each other.  It wasn't until Lily started eating another raspberry pastry that James made a hasty attempt to keep his mouth shut.  In fact, after that he really didn't feel like eating anymore.  What they didn't know is that Lily found out why the boys were acting weird that day before the exams and she decided to use it to her benefit.

When the boys left, the girls looked at Lily bewilderedly.  

"Gee, Lils, it's as if you have some kind of control over him." said Jade.

"In a way I guess."  

"How'd you do it?"

"Simple.  Just flash things that remind them of girlish things.  Such as this here raspberry pastry."

Penny looked puzzled.  "What does that got to do with girls….. oooooohhh" Penny then started to laugh a little.

Jade and Carly soon got Lily's clue and began to giggle as well.  "I can't believe this! When did they ever start thinking about THAT?!?"

"I don't know." laughed Lily, "But it sure is good to be in control!!"

The other girls agreed and finished the rest of their dinner.

"Maybe Potter will finally stay away from me."

"Oh, come on, Lily, don't tell me you still hate him."

"I do, Penny.  And I always will.  I can't stand the boy.  The others are okay.  Remus and Peter are nice and Sirius… well Sirius is just Sirius."

"I can't believe you two still have a grudge."

"He started it."

"How?" asked Carly.

"He was born."

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

"I hate that Evans.  She's just a dirty rotten redhead." said James.

Remus smiled.  "That's only because she started eating that pastry."

"Oh bug off, Remus."

Sirius then made a disgusted look.  "I'll say it before, I'll say it again…  raspberry pastries just aren't the same."

"You know this is all your fault, Peter."

"What?!?! I didn't do anything…"

"You were the one that mentioned that.. that… THING in the first place!" roared James.

"Well it's true… just deal with it, man."

"I guess we're going to have to if we're going to hang out with the girls." mentioned Remus.

James scowled.  "Well you guys can.  I however, am staying away from that devil bunch."

The other three looked at him skeptically.  "James you can't be serious!"

"First of all, shut up Sirius." Sirius then shut his mouth as he was about to once again bring up that ridiculous pun.  "And secondly, I've had it with those girls anyway.  Especially that stupid Evans girl."

Remus shook his head.  "Alright, whatever you say there."

The next day, classes resumed and James did not get the declaration he wanted.  For some turn in the stars, lab partners were assigned in Potions class, and it just had to be none other than Lily Evans.

"Let's just get this over with." said Lily in a angry tone.

"Sod off.  I can do this myself." shot James as he poured the first ingredient in.

"You know,  you're not the only one that knows what they 're doing."

"Shut up, Evans, I'm trying to do a potion."

"Potter, I've had it with you, you're just a slimy, sleazy, bastard that thinks the world revolves around you."

"Well, Evans you're just a smart-ass know-it-all that sucks up to teachers just to get her way!"

Professor Coggins took this opportunity.  "Potter!  Evans! Out of my classroom.. .now! I will check your potion as it is right now.  You two have detention tonight!  Now out!!"  Inwardly Professor Coggins was smiling at the punishment he just gave the two Gryffindors.  James and Lily walked out and went their separate ways in frustration while the Slytherins sneered.  The other Gryffindors just went on with the lessons, obviously used to James and Lily's antics by now.  This somehow created a tension between the Marauders and the girls.  Both groups thought that the counterpart did something to rile up their friend, and so both groups were glaring at each other.   Even Remus and Carly were shooting nasty glares.  Even though they liked each other, they refused to admit that their friend was wrong and would back them up if they had to.  This was not a good sign.

"Well, let's see what those two were able to come up with." sneered Professor Coggins.  He took James and Lily's potion, and poured it into a test tube.  He then tested it on a sleeping Slytherin in the back of the room and suddenly the Slytherin started laughing his head off.  Professor Coggins was astonished.

"I can't believe it.  A perfect potion."  

On the other side of the classroom, Snape was scowling in disgust.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

That night James was in the middle of a well-played chess game with Remus.  Just as the match was getting close, James finally remembered.

"Sorry, Remmy old buddy, but I got detention… so it looks like we can't finish the game!!"

"But… but… but…"

"No buts Remus, you're just going to have to wait til next time.

"No!  Just give me one more move, pleaaaase?"

James scanned the pieces.  _'Hmm, if he moves his knight, then his queen will be in attacking range for my rook!!  After that, the game will be mine!'_

"Shoot." said James.

Remus smiled and moves his knight.

"Ah ha!!! Sorry, Remus but your queen is….

"Checkmate."

James looked at his friend, then back at the game board.  Apparently he forgot that when if he moved his knight a certain way, then his king would be trapped between Remus' knight, rook, and bishop which were all in perfect place for the win.

"Damn you, Remus." said James and coughed up five galleons.

"Good game, mate.  But you gotta go to detention before Coggins kills you."

"Not unless Evans kills me first."

"You got that right.  Just for once try and be civil with her."

"But…"

"No buts, James." said Remus in an amusing yet terrible imitation of James which caused the latter to smile a little bit.  "Remember, this is Coggins, and he will pounce on any trouble you two cause, so keep it to yourself."

"Whatever you say, mate.  See ya." said James and left out of the portrait hole.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Typical for Potter to be late… and this is one of the things he's good at." muttered Lily as she waited inside of Professor Coggins' office.   They were supposed to report to his office by 8 o' clock.  Lily, being the responsible one, arrived at 7:45 much to the disgust of Professor Coggins, who just spat at Lily to go sit down and wait for James.  Lily was waiting for another thirty minutes before James came strolling inside the room.

"Hello?!?! Anyone here? No? Alright, bye then!"

"Not so fast, Potter." spat Professor Coggins.  "Apparently you are fifteen minutes late."

"Well, I'm so sorry, Professor, but I just couldn't' seem to find time in my busy day to come here at eight."

"Then it looks like you will have to MAKE time for you and Evans to spend extra detention with me for the rest of the week."

James scowled and then heard a shuffle from behind him.

"But, Professor… I was here on time!  I was here earlier for crying out loud!!"

"Silence!! Now you two will have to clean the flasks and tubes for me every night for the rest of the week.  Then you will rearrange all the potions that I have put on my shelf, as well as clean every speck of dirt in here with a broom.. and DON'T give me that stupid look, Potter.  You will be doing it the hard way.  No magic!  And I put a security spell so that if any magic performed by a wand is detected, then I will know by the strong sensor that it has.  Highly advanced magic, so there's no escape.  Now get to work!"  and with that, Professor Coggins left towards his quarters.  

"Well Potter, somehow you and your big head has managed for us to have detention for the rest of the bloody week."

"Shut up, Evans.  It's not my fault."

"Oh it SO is your fault, Potter.  Why can't you just keep your big mouth shut!"

"Because you and your big brain keep on irritating me!"

Lily scowled.  "If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't even be in this mess.  If you just let me do the potion…"

"Then all hell would've broken loose anyway, come on, Evans.  Coggins planned this all along.  He wanted us to get in trouble."

"Whatever.  Let's just get this over with."

For most of the time, they spent working in silence, with some occasional glares at one another.  As Lily went to go get a glass of water, James put down a potion formula with an open cap.  Finally, when they were putting the potions away, James accidentally bumped into Lily while trying to put back the potion he left on the table.  Lily, however, didn't see this as an accident.

"Watch where you're going!!"

"I didn't do it on purpose!" spat back James.

"Oh like you don't do anything disastrous on purpose… James… you are the leader of the most disastrous boys in this school!!!"

James smiled.  "Yeah well, it takes a lot to have that sort of reputation."

"Oh, sod off Potter.  We're almost done, so just stop your bickering."

"You started it!"

"No you did!"

"You!"

"You!"

"You!"

"You!"

"You!"

"You!"

James slammed his rag down on the ground.  "I can't stand you anymore Evans!! Heck I can't even stand or even begin to even think about how it feels like to be you!!!"

"Well, it's not like you're all bloody perfect either Potter!!"  Lily said as she picked up a glass and began to drink.

"Shut up, Evans.  We're finished here anyway, and right now, I just want to get as far away as possible from you.

"Yeah well let me help you!!" shouted Lily and stormed out of the room.

James grimaced and looked down.  "Didn't even finish her stupid drink." he said and gulped the rest of it down.  He then put down the other glass with the other potions and left the room only to bump into Lily again.

James looked at her strangely.

"Well it's not as if I'm going all the way back by myself!"

"Awww.. is ickle Evans scared of the dark?"

"Shut up Potter, let's just get out of here."

They left together back towards the room.

Back inside the potions dungeon room, Professor Coggins was inspecting James and Lily's work.  

"Those pesky Gryffindors.  Well at least they can clean.  Pretty good job I must say, I should get them into detention more often.  Wait… what's this?!?!"  

He looked at the shelf.  

"What in the world is a glass of water doing over here??  Stupid kids." he muttered and poured the glass of water into the sink.  He sat down on his desk and had his hand under his chin, appearing to be thinking.

"Hmmm…  now where in the world did I put that bloody switching potion………….."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Mini-cliffhanger here… I'm sure if you figured it out by now, you'll know what to expect in the next chapter.  Keep your eyes open! Thanks to the reviewers for keeping in line with my story.  Slowly but surely, this story will get done, so I hope that none of you are sick of this story yet.  I've been reading this story… called "Turn Left Turn Right" by uh….. I forgot the name of the author but it's good!!! I like it and I hope that the author updates soon.  You should go check it out if you can find it.  It's in the archives somewhere.  Just search for Lily P. and James P. in the boxes up above and just look for the title.  Ok I'll catch all of you guys later.  Peace out!!! Merry Christmas!!!!!**  



	30. Switched

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas!! I sure had one, and I am going back to this story.  When we left off, James and Lily drank what they THOUGHT was water… but of course you know by now that it wasn't… so let's see what happens shall we?

**I got this plot inspired by the rag tag movie _Freaky Friday.  _Actually, it wasn't half bad, it was kinda funny and very morally in some ways.  Well on with it now before you readers bite my head off!**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

James woke up to a strange ringing noise coming from the right side of his bedpost.

That's funny, I could've sworn my alarm clock was on the left side… and I don't even set my alarm this bloody early anyway!

James woke up to see something he didn't expect to see.  Sleeping silently on their respective beds were not his usual friends and fellow Marauders, but rather his counterparts……..

_Girls?_

He looked harder and found Jade, Carly, Penny, and Alice sleeping and snoring.  Actually Carly was the only one snoring, and rather loud too.

Hmm, something's going on here.  Why the hell is the girls in our dorm?  And where's my friends at?

Suddenly he realized that everything in sight was clear, and he had no glasses on.  He was excited.

_Thank Merlin, I can see again!!  It's a miracle!  Maybe those carrots helped after all… _he thought remembering what he had for dinner the night before.

As a typical boy would think, he thought he was in heaven.  He was right inside the girls dormitories, and they were all in their night clothes.  

_Wait till I tell Sirius!!_

He flopped out of bed and went towards the bathroom and turned the light on.  He turned the sink on to wash his face and then looked at the mirror, and jumped back in horror.

"What in blazes are you doing here Evans! Evans?"  James touched his face and realized that Lily was doing the same gesture.  

"Wait a tick… what in the world?"  James raised his right hand, and Lily raised her left.

Then it dawned on him…..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"

Two screams could be heard on both sides of the Gryffindor dormitory as the two known as Lily Evans and James Potter ran down the stairs.  They met eyes and once again……

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Evans, what are you doing in my body?!?!"

"What are you doing in MY body, Potter?!?!"

"I don't know!! What did you do this time?"

"Me?  This is probably your fault!!!"

The rest of the Gryffindor woke up and angrily marched their way down the stairs to see what the commotion is all about.

"Oh, no, you two AGAIN?!" said Penny.

"Wait!! I'm her!  She's me!  We're each other!"  James said (remember, he's in Lily's body).

"Whoa whoa whoa, ok so let me get this straight," said Remus.  "Lily, you are James.  And James, you are Lily."

"Way to repeat what I just said Remus." said James.

Remus stared at the figure of Lily.  "Hmm, you guys are telling the truth."

"How did this happen?" asked Jade.

The two then pointed at each other and then glared at each other simultaneously.

"Once again, it's both of your faults." said Carly.

"Shut up.  What are we going to do?" said Lily.

(A/N  Just making sure you get this straight.  From now until I say, when Lily is talking, it REALLY is her, she's just in James' body.  Vice versa for James in Lily's body.  You get the picture)

"Well, first of all, you have to find out how in the hell you guys did this in the first place." said Sirius.  "Then, you're going to have to switch back…"

The others gaped at Sirius.  "Sirius, that has got to be the most intelligent thing I've ever heard you say." said Jade.

"Thanks.  Oh yeah, and after you change back, then James gets to tell me what all of you wear during bed time."

"And once again you're back to being a prat." said Jade with a glare.

James and Sirius snickered while Lily huffed.

"Well, come to think of it, the water I was drinking tasted a little funny, Potter."

"Yeah, actually I uh… I think I drank some of that too." said James sheepishly.

"Great… how are we supposed to find the antidote?" said Lily.

Remus came in.  "Well, there's only one thing to do…"

James scowled.  "And what's that oh logical and wise one."

"Just wait till potions and then just ask the bloody professor to change you back."

"No freakin way." said Lily  "I don't want to be stuck in this crazy mess."

James then looked at Lily.  "Heyyyyyyyy I'm pretty sexy!"

"Oh shut up Potter." said Lily.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The day went by and Lily and James were miserable being each other up until potions when they shyly told Professor Coggins what happened.  Coggins was furious at their clumsiness, but changed them back nonetheless, after giving them another week of detention of course.  

As Lily, James discovered what it was like to be a girl.  All the gossips, all the things that girls talk about.  He was really not liking it.  Fortunately, it wasn't Lily's "time of the month" yet so he didn't have to worry about that.  He learned a lot about Lily Evans and her natural habits, like the way she scrunched up her nose every time she was concentrating.  He also found out what it was like to be a muggle born, as he overheard some Slytherins in the hallway calling him a mudblood.  Sure, it sounded bad before, but when you actually were one, that word just made you feel devastating.  But still being a kid, all it did was make his hatred for Snape increase.  After this experience he certainly respected Lily a bit more than before, but not enough to actually befriend her.

Lily learned a lot about James as well.  Hanging out with the Marauders almost all day, she got to see how kind hearted and care free they really are.  It must've been a blast being a Marauder, and Lily was enjoying herself, despite the fact being in James' body.  She learned that James could do a lot of really cool stuff, like twirl a quill around his finger,  and all those little unimportant talents that made James who he is.  Lily got to see a glimpse of true Marauder prank planning as all four of them pranked Jade and Carly by making their food spell out insults at them.  It was loads of fun, actually, and Lily realized that the Marauders really weren't all that bad.  _It's just James that's bad. _she concluded.

All in all, everything turned out alright, and the two learned about each other more than they ever did in the first year, partly because they spent half a month in detention with each other.  They managed to be civil with each other for the rest of the year, and just like that, everyone parted ways to their respectful homes for the summer, eagerly anticipating an exciting third year.

Of course, third year is where the REAL fun begins………

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sorry, folks, I know you expected a whole plot from all of this, but I decided against it.  Too many chapters on their second year, and I've taken too long with it.  I need to get them into some real life situations and whatnot so that you all can enjoy it a bit more, so I just kinda summarized what I was originally going to make two or three chapters out of.  Well, third year is coming up, and I'm sorry.  I know this chapter disappoints you, but hopefully I'll redeem myself in the coming of the third year.

**Trust me… it'll get better.  I promise.  Peace.**


	31. Growing Up Is Hard To Do

Thanks to all reviewers!!! One review in one week, how neat. Haha… only one review for the last chapter so I know that it was kinda sketchy.  Oh well, hope I can bounce back!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"James Harold Potter, if you don't get up right now I will personally maim your broomstick!!"

James shot up in a flash.  NO ONE MESSED WITH HIS BROOMSTICK.  Without haste, he washed himself up and was downstairs.

"I'm up, I'm up!!" shouted James pleadingly.

James' mother smiled. "Well it's about time.  Of course you know I was only joking about the maiming of the broomstick.  I just know how much you like quidditch is all."

"Gee thanks a lot mum."

"Anytime.  Is Sirius coming over today?  We should go pick up your supplies at Diagon Alley today."

"Yeah, he is.  That's a good idea too.  When are we leaving?"

"Soon, I guess a few hours after Sirius gets here."

"Few hours?"

"Yes… I know the first thing that Sirius will say when he gets in here… 'Why Hello Mrs. Potter ----------

**_~~ An hour later ~~_**

****

" ---- what a lovely dress you have on today!  Please make some of your famous scrambled eggs and French toast?"

James' mum (Julie) smirked.  "Of course dear, they've already been prepared."

Sirius gasped in mock surprise.  "Mrs. P!!! You know me too well."

"Indeed I do Sirius, indeed I do."

James just watched his friend in amusement.  "Just hurry up you twit.  We're going to the Alley today to pick up our stuff."

Sirius grimaced.  "Pick up our stupid supplies again?  I say we strike on the people that make us get school supplies.  We don't need them anyway."

Julie looked at Sirius in amusement.  "Sirius, honey, you need a job first before you can go on strike."

"Oh…. well when I get a job I will strike them."

James laughed.  "I'm right behind you buddy."

Julie just smiled at the two best friends.  She's known Sirius ever since James first learned to walk.  The two have been together ever since they were little, and no matter how much they were growing, they would always be the two little boys she adored when they were little…. and it helps when they still act like little children as well.  Sure, it gets on her nerves at times, but it's better than having two boys who were sophisticated and stuck-up and boring.  She loved the two with all her heart, and wished the best in their lives.

"Hurry up boys!! It's almost time to go.  Sirius, finish your plate, and James, get the fireplace ready.  We're flooing there."

"Do we have to?!?!" whined James.

"Just do it." said Julie with a motherly order.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Are we there yet, Dad?"

"Sweetie, relax… we're almost there."

Lily Evans was practically bouncing up and down as she was on her way towards Diagon Alley to get her supplies for Hogwarts.  The Evans' and the Chapmans decided to go together so Lily and Jade were sitting together in anticipation.  Even though it wasn't school time yet, they always looked forward to going to Diagon Alley.  They were to meet Carly and Penny there as well.  Diagon Alley to them was one of the highlights of their summers because of their lack of magical surroundings back at their homes.  

Jade looked out.  "Oooooooh there's the Leaky Cauldron. We're here Lily!"

The two families got out while Lily and Jade burst through and ran towards the pub.  The parents of the two girls looked at each other and smiled.  Lily and Jade have been best friends ever since they first met at Charlie's Factory that fateful day Lily got her letter.  Almost every story Jade told about Hogwarts involved Lily, and the same goes to Jade everytime Lily told one of her stories.  The bond shared between the two only got stronger as the years went along, and it seemed as if nothing could separate them.  

Still, they didn't put themselves above the rest of their friends, because Carly and Penny were also a big part of their lives now.  

"Hurry up, Mum!" shouted Lily.

"Honestly, Lily, hold your horses.  We're here, so let's be patient."

"Oh fine, but don't' expect me to be patient all the time."

"You're my daughter, of course I won't." said Rose with a  smirk.

"Whatever, Mum, can we gooooo now?" whined Lily.

Jade laughed hard.  "Oh my goodness, Lily… you are seriously starting to sound like..

"Don't you dare say his name… it is forbidden."

Rose smiled.  "Jade, dear, do you mean that boy that Lily speaks ill of all the time?? What's his name… Jon?"

"Hehe, no ma'am.  His name is James.  James Potter.  And Lily likes him."

"I do not!!"

"Do too."

"He is a jerk."

The two continued this as Tom the bartender opened the brick passageway to the Alley.  

"Hmmm, honey, Lily's starting to talk about boys.  That's not good." said David Evans.

"We knew it would come, Dave, Lily's growing up."

"They both are." said Jade's dad.  "You're lucky, at least your daughter only talks about ONE boy.  Jade there is constantly talking about many boys.  So much sometimes she loses track."

"Not good at all." The two fathers stood their scowling a little.

"Men." was all the wives could say as they followed their daughters towards Flourish & Blotts.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Marauders met up at Zonko's and secretly stocked up their prank supplies in Peter's extra bag that he brought along.  Then they went to get their stuff, running into a couple of friends here and there.  Soon enough, their eyes fell upon the four fellow Gryffindor girls that they have been friends with the past two years, and for once, they were speechless.  

Lily, Jade, Carly, and Penny were walking side by side and they looked absolutely fabulous.  Lily's eyes seem to shine with beauty, and Jade's personality along with her strikingly beautiful features seem to beam brightly.  Carly's shyness did not hide her gorgeous look, and Penny was looking as beautiful as ever.  

This of course, was how the Marauders were thinking of their girl acquaintances.

"James?" said Sirius who was almost drooling.

"Uhhh…" was all that James could say.  

"Are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

"Dah—I--- uhh—I--- …" muttered James.  His friends were then shocked.  James was never speechless, especially when it came to girls anyway.  He always had something to say, regardless of the topic, so this was a first for their fearless leader.

"I take that as a yes." piped Peter.

"Looks like we're in for one hell of an interesting year, boys." said Sirius.  

"I believe you're right, my friend." said Remus.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The four girls walked around buying all their supplies when Jade spoke up.

"Hey, have you all noticed that all of a sudden boys don't have cooties anymore?"

"Jade… only you would say something like that." said Lily.  "Boys shouldn't be a wanting for us right now.  We need to concentrate on school."

"Oh shut up, Lily." smiled Penny.  "Boys are good now."

"Yeah!!" said Carly.

The other three girls looked at Carly in amazement.  Quiet, shy, Carly Atwater talking about a topic that they never thought would come out from her.  Times are changing for sure.

"So Lily, eyeing out James Potter back there, huh?" said Jade with a wink.  She got a punch in the arm for that from Lily.

"Of course not.  I was just wondering why he was staring at me."

"Maybe it's because he likes you!" said Carly.

"Eww no!! That would never happen.  James Potter will never be considered on the 'maybe' list for me." The girls just shrugged and continued their supply shopping.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sirius was looking left, right, up, down, sideways, over, and under.  

"Aaaah! Guys what's happening to me?" asked Sirius.

"Sirius… my friend.  It seems you're rather taken with the females around here." said Peter.

"But---but—that never happens!"

"I guess that's what happens when you grow up." said Remus.

"No!!!" said James.  "I will NEVER grow up, ever ever ever!!"  Sirius nodded his head in a firm agreement with his best friend while Remus just chuckled.

"Whatever you say, boys." said Remus.  

"Can we just get this shopping over with, before I catch Sirius' infection of girl-mania?" interrupted Peter.  He was starting to look a few share of girls himself.  They soon got finished with their shopping and returned to each of their homes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

James sat in his bedroom thinking of the next year.  He was excited to see what was going to happen, but he couldn't get a certain someone out of his head.

"How can someone change in a span of two stupid months?" James asked himself.  The look he was giving Lily was strange of him.  He didn't really look at her that way before, but at that moment he couldn't help it.  Lily had grown up.  Lily was blooming into a beautiful flower.  

"I don't believe this.  I hate growing up." muttered James.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Growing pains, my friend.  They are growing!!! Third  year should be filled with many hormones and sorts…. since they are growing you know.  There will be romances… but don't expect it to be from THEM.  You know who they are.. NOPE!!! Not that time yet.  We got a looooooooooong way to go, so just be patient and read read read!! Bye bye now.**


	32. It's Not My Fault

StarRuby:  You are a faithful reviewer.  I'm surprised you still even read this story.  But I appreciate all of your reviews.  You were the only reviewer of my last one (ch. 30) and you were the inspiration to get this chapter up as quickly as possible.  I dedicate this chapter to you, my friend.

**This goes to all you other faithful reviewers out there.  I know that I may not thank you individually.  But you don't know how good it feels when I know my story is being read.  Sure I take looooooong breaks here and there but I get back to it for you… I can't thank you enough, and I hope my story will still be at you interest till the very end.  Thanks again.  **

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Can you believe that we're third years already?" asked Peter.

The Marauders had their own compartment on the train heading towards Hogwarts for their third year.  The rest of the summer flew by rather quick and soon they would start their third year.

"It only seems like yesterday when we first met." said Remus smiling at his three friends.

"Yeah, and considering what we've gone through so far, I say we're in pretty good shape right now." said James.

Sirius was just staring at a sight of nothing at the window.

James looked at him.  "Sirius… you alright there?"

"Yeah, have you guys seen how incredibly hot that Ravenclaw girl is?  The one that walked by us a couple of minutes ago."

"Sirus, pal, oh best friend of mine…. please do stop with the speaking of the girls.  It's very disturbing."

"Well it's not my fault that girls are suddenly on the top of my priority list!"

"Let's just drop that subject for now." snapped James.  "So anyway…. I looked up some books in our family library over the summer, and it seems as if we might be able to cook up that Animagi potion in about two years or so if we start now like we planned."

"That's great!" said Peter.  "Wow, imagine the many adventures we could have through the forest if this actually works."

"You mean WHEN it works, Pete." said Sirius.  "We can't afford failure for our pal Remus here."

"Of course it'll work.  Curse me and my doubts." said Peter clapping Remus on the back.  "We'll do it.  I know it."

"I sure hope so.  It'd be nice to have some company in that dreaded shack."

"Sure thing, Remus.  By the way… how DO you get into the Shrieking Shack anyway?" asked James.  "Isn't it protected by that devil tree… what's it called again?"

"The Whomping Willow.  Yes, it is pretty much devilish.  Anyone within its branches reach will be pummeled all the way to China.  Its only weakness is a little knot right in the middle of its trunk.  All you have to do is press it and it freezes up, nothing to it really."

"Sounds easy enough.  We'll make a note saying that one of our animals has to be a small animal so it can slip through and get to the knot.  And judged by our pal Peter's height here, I'm guessing that'll be your job." said Sirius.

"Hey!! I resent that Sirius." retorted Peter.  

"I know." said Sirius with a smile.

"Hmmm.. I wonder where that Ravenclaw girl went?" asked Remus.

"Oh, no not you too, Remus!!! Sirius look what you've done!" snapped James.

"Heyyyyy, it's not my fault Remus has good taste!" said Sirius.

James groaned and continued eating the candy he bought from the cart lady.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey girls! We're here!! Get your bloody robes on, you prats." said Penny.

"Moody aren't we?" said Lily with an eyebrow raised.

"Oh, no I'm just so excited!!" exclaimed Penny.

"Why?"

"Because… that cute Ravenclaw boy said he'd save me a seat next to him in a carriage."

"Wow, you're so lucky!" exclaimed Jade.

"My goodness are we talking about boys again?" asked Carly.

"Yes!!" said Jade and Penny together.

Lily scowled.  "You know, you two are getting worse and worse by the second.  I hope you don't turn into any of those ditzy girls out there that wears too much makeup and what not."

"Oh, of course not, Lily.  We'll always be ourselves, you know that.  We made a pact!"

"Yeah whatever." said Lily with a smile.

They did indeed make a pact, saying that they would stay friends forever and that they would never change for anything.  They also put in that pact that they would not have a guy put between their friendship….. except for maybe Elvis Presley (That was Jade's addition).  Each girl signed it and pinky promised each other one night during their second year.

Penny waved goodbye and went to sit with that boy while the other three got a carriage with Alice in it.

"Hey guys!!" said Alice.  "Wow, it's been a while since I've last talked to you all!"

"Well, that's because you're busy with Frank all the time." said Jade while smirking.

"Oh, that.  Well Frank and I decided to be friends for now.  Things weren't really working out and I have been doing horribly on my studies… so I thought it was for the best."

"Finally!! A girl who stands up for her raging hormones!" said Lily.  

"Shut up, Lily, that doesn't mean she will give up on boys." said Jade.

"Well, we are still kind of young to get into relationships like that." remarked Carly.

"I swear, Lily, you are influencing just about everyone."

"And yet you still love me!" said Lily with a smile while the others laughed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Soon they began to file into the Great Hall for the feast again and James, Remus, and Peter were sitting down with each other at the Gryffindor table.  All three were scowling as Sirius made his way toward them.

"What!" said Sirius.  "Is there something on my robes?"

"No you idiot, I can't believe you just left us for that blonde Hufflepuff!" shouted James.

"Hey come on now, she was practically begging for me to come sit with her in the carriage."

"And you, being the dog you are, obediently followed her command." snapped Peter.

"When a girl looks at you like that, you just can't resist!" said Sirius with a huff.

"And what kind of a look is that…"

"Well, James it looks like this." Sirius then tried to make a sort of 'sexy' look, and James slid away from him rather quickly.

"Ok stop now, dude… you're scaring me."

"Alright, so maybe I'm not good at the female charm… but it's kinda like that look that Hufflepuff girl Shauna is giving you over there, James.  That one sitting at the end."

James turned in that direction to see a girl with wavy brown hair and blue eyes looking at James in a rather taken way.  She giggled and flew back her hair and looked away to talk to her friends again.  

James then turned back to his friends.  "She's not so bad." said James with a smile.

"Ah yes, it seems girls are rather taken with you, but so much as with me, though." said Sirius.

"Will you two stop babbling about girls!" shouted Peter.

"It's not our fault that you can't get 'the look' from anyone, Pete." laughed James.

"Who says he can't?" said Sirius with a glint in his eye.  He then resumed trying to give his best impression of 'the look' towards Peter who later on clobbered Sirius in the head with a big drumstick.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lily and her friends were unpacking in their third year dormitory as the night drew to a close.  They were quite surprised at the many looks guys gave their way as they walked in, and were quite unsure of what to do.  Well, Jade and Penny sure knew what to do anyway… they smiled flirtaciously back at them and sometimes even blew a kiss to a few here and there.

"Well, it seems as if our Lily Evans here has a few fans of her own, now." said Jade with a grin.

"I do not.  I'm not as pretty as you are, Jade."

"No way.. I would kill to have your eyes, Lily!"  

"Sure, that's what everyone says."

"Well it's true.  That's why everyone says it!" said Jade.

Lily just shook her head but was secretly flattered.  She didn't think she'd ever get any boys' attention before.  She figured they thought of her as some know-it-all bookworm who wasn't attractive.  She was wrong when she caught two Ravenclaw boys staring at her longingly.  It wouldn't have been as bad, but those boys were in their fifth year for starters, and plus the fact that they spilled their juice on their robes that they were about to drink before they set their eyes on Lily.

"I guess it's not that bad." said Lily smiling.

"I knew it!! Our good girl has gone bad!"

"Not quite, Penny.  And just to prove you wrong, I'm going into the common room to get a head start in our new Charms textbook."

"Suit yourself!" said Jade as her and the rest finished their packing.

Lily went out into the common room to find none other than the Marauders gathered around the fireplace huddled together and whispering.

"Not planning another prank, I hope?" said Lily.

Sirius smiled.  "Oh, of course not.  What ever would make you say that, Lily dearest?"

"Don't' start with me, Black.  Just don't get in too much trouble. It IS the beginning and we have no points to lose yet."

"Well, considering we have our smarty pants here to gain the points back, we don't have to worry, now do we." said James.

"Potter, don't even start with me.  It's the first day, and I want to enjoy it.  SO far I have until now when I have to actually speak with you, you filthy boy."

"Filthy am I.. well we'll just make things better for you.  We were just leaving anyway."

Remus looked up.  "We were?"

"Yeah, James… I thought…."

"Yes!! We were…" said James shutting up Peter and pulling him and Remus along with him back to their room.

Sirius just smiled.  "Well, after all, rumor has it we are joined at the hip so I mind as well follow them.  Good day, Evans."

"Sure thing."

Lily just watched the Marauders go and went back to her book.  For about another hour she read until she became tired.  She even managed to perform a couple of charms in the book.  Before she went up, she glanced at the boys staircase again.  She couldn't believe she would actually look at him like that.  

Those stupid hazel eyes…..

That bloody grin of his….

And that damn messy hair….

"Bloody hell, what am I doing." said Lily to herself and walked back up the staircase, but not before thinking one last thing…..

'That damn Potter just had to turn out looking like that.  It's not my fault he's that way. Grr.' 

And with that final 'grr' that thought was pushed waaaaaay in the back of Lily's mind and would lay dormant there for the rest of the night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So whaddya think?? Don't tell me… review me!! Haha I love reviews… and I hope that you review this chapter too.  This third year will be dubbed….

**"The Growing Year"**

**… as our friends from Hogwarts indeed our starting to learn to deal with teenage wants and needs.  It's an interesting life, the life of a teen.  And knowing the Marauders… it's about to get VERY VERY interesting.  Catch ya laters!!!**


	33. Getting Used To

**Hmm.. Perhaps a session individual reviews should be taken place, so those who reviewed so far for last chapter… look for your name!**

**StarRuby: ah yes, as I predicted you reviewed again. Haha that's a favorite part of yours? I just kinda thought of it… you know spur-of-the-moment thing. Thanks for reviewing! When they reach fifth year, yes I will use that after-OWL scene from the 5th book. Still, things will be a tad different than usual, so just wait till it happens I guess. **

**Erica Lea T: Ha on the contrary, I haven't been updating as of late, otherwise I'd be on fifth year by now if I updated frequently. But I'm glad that you like what you are reading so far. So I hope you keep reading and reviewing!! Thanks.**

**TeArSoFfAtE: Happy new year to you too! Thanks for your review… you're another one of those dedicated reviewers that I see frequently… so I hope you keep reading like before. **

**Prongs307: Thanks for your review… well I'm not really that good but I'm trying. I assure you it will be finished… so just keep reading if you like!!**

**BANANA!: I WILL WRITE MORE!! GLAD YOU LUV IT! Thanks for your review.**

**And now I bring to you the next chapter of _Seven Years Well Worth It… _**

**ALSO… I WISH YOU ALL A HAPPY NEW YEAR… 2004 BABY!!!**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Gryffindor Quidditch team gathered around for their last practice before the first game of the new season. The same team from last year would be returning this year, and they were determined to get that Quidditch Cup back to Gryffindor. Their first game was against Hufflepuff, and considering that they've had experience as their advantage, they were sure to win. Captain Paul Wood, however, thought nothing of that.

"Alright team. We've had our ups and downs last year, but this year is entirely different. We are the only team that did not make any changes during the summer, and we better win the Cup because this is the final year for some of us."

"You mean the final year for YOU." muttered Jade.

"Whatever Chapman."

"Well it's true Cap!"

"Yeah yeah… so it's only my last year… speaking of which, I dub Bagman and Krum the co-captains of next year's Quidditch team, and if either of you decide to decline, then talk amongst yourselves."

"You got it, Cap'n." yelled Bagman with a salute while Krum nodded his head.

"Good. Now let's get back to business… I've been reading up on a couple of Quidditch formations, and I want the chasers to try something coming from America. American football has a sort wishbone formation, and I want you three to try it out." said Wood while pointing to James, Sirius, and Remus.

The three boys went to a set formation, with Remus in the front center and James and Sirius on his two sides at a slight angle behind him.

"Ok, now I want you set up like this in the beginning of the game.. You three can rotate whenever you wish, but make sure that when you start your attack, that you get set in this formation… not all the time though. I know how creative you three can get. This will just be used to intimidate the other team, however, it is a set formation, so it is useful. The one in the center will captain the two while the other Chasers weave in and out, still staying in formation. When the time is right, you either split apart, or criss cross in a swing formation to get the chasers on your tail as well as confuse the beaters. The person with the quaffle will then decide to either go for the shot or just… do whatever the heck you Marauders do…"

"Sounds like a plan, Cap'n." said James with a smile. Sirius and Remus nodded. 

"I think this might actually come in handy, regardless of how basic and dull it looks." said Sirius.

"It is not dull!!!!!!!!!" screamed Wood. The team jumped back.

"Touchy, touchy there…." said James. "I think you need to take a break from all that NEWT studying Pauly-boy."

"Later… right now let's practice. Time to fly." said Wood and the rest of the team flew to their respective position working on the drill.

The rest of the practice went well, and when it was over, the three Marauders walked back to the Gryffindor Tower.

"Hey, Chapman, you wanna tag along?" asked Sirius with a smile.

"As if I ever, besides, I gotta go meet Danny." said Jade.

"Who's Danny?"

"None of your business." said Jade and left in the other direction.

"Gee, wonder what the rush is for." said Sirius.

"Probably going on a date or something." said Remus.

"Date?? Chapstick?? I don't think so… like she can get one."

"Oh, she can get one alright, I saw her walking into the Ravenclaw Tower one night while I was knicking food from the kitchens. It seems she's playing the field nowadays."

Sirius smiled. "I knew she had it in her. OH well, off to my date! See ya guys later!"

"Wait!" shouted James and Sirius turned around. "You have a date?! Why didn't you tell us?"

"Well like I have to tell you all about my personal life. Come on, guys… James if you had a pretty girl out on a date, would you tell me?"

"Well… well no."

"Okay then! Catch you two prats later." said Sirius and scurried off down the corridor.

"OH well, Remus you wanna help me setting up the potion?"

Remus kinda backed away. "Uhh.. Sure James, but I'm going to have to leave a little early."

"Let me guess, you have a date too…"

"Sorry mate."

"It's alright, I'll just do some extra work and then head back to see what Peter's doing."

"Umm… I think he's already on his.."

"Don't even finish it." said James scowling.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_Damn them… getting involved with girls and whatnot.. What has this world gotten into. _muttered James.

He was now currently in the Marauders room, working on the beginning of the Animagi potion. He was still kinda ticked off that all of his friends would leave him alone for a bunch of measly girls.

"What's so special about girls anyway." he said to himself. He packed up his things and headed down for dinner. On his way he heard a slight giggling behind him and turned to find a group of two or three second year girls following him and glancing back at him time and time again.

_What's their problem, _he thought. 

He made his way toward the Great Hall and then found the rest of the Marauders eating at the table. He plopped down next to Sirius and began to fill his plate.

"So how was your date, guys?" asked James.

"Pretty good… a bit boring, but nothing like spending some quality time with a pretty girl to brighten up your day."

"And what would the definition of quality be, Sirius…" said Remus.

"That my friend, shall be kept in privacy." he said with a wink.

James just laughed along and then stared back at the three girls that were still giggling at him.

"Hmm, so this date thing… how does it get set up and everything?"

"Easy Jamesy!" said Sirius. "First you turn on the old Sirius charm, or in your case, it'd be the Potter charm, make a few compliments here and there, and then just casually ask them to go for a walk or meet them somewhere. Works every time."

Peter huffed. "And what makes you think it works every time… it's not like you're a professional ladies man or anything."

"Actually… I am.. Self-dubbed anyway. I am the one and only ladies man."

James smirked. "Well, ONE and ONLY, you just found yourself an arch nemesis in the girls' department." he said and walked toward the Hufflepuff table.

The other three boys just turned to each other and nodded.

"Yup… he's converted. We got another one here." said Sirius.

James strutted his way down towards the portrait hole while the rest of his friends just looked at him in amusement.

"Happy much?" asked Peter with a smirk.

"Oh yes… you know, maybe this whole 'girl' thing isn't so bad after all." said James.

"You're hooked, my friend." said Sirus.

"It's not my fault I'm THAT good-looking."

"Sounds like someone I know." laughed Remus while looking at Sirius.

James and Sirius high-fived each other. "Well we are best friends you know… it's only fitting that we share the same gift of attractiveness!" said Sirius. "No offense, I bet the girls think you two are quite spiffing as well."

Remus just smiled. "Whatever, my friend. The Fat Lady is back. Let's go in."

The Marauders made their way back through the portrait hole and found Lily sitting by the fireplace reading a book. 

James decided to strut his way on over and sat next to Lily. "Hey Evans."

"Potter what do you want."

"Nothing, just wondering what you are doing."

"Uhh hellooo I am reading a book, what else would I be doing?"

"Looking at pictures?"

"You are a hopeless prat."

"Oh shut up, Evans. Anyway, I was wondering if I could grace your presence and we could you know… go for a stroll a little bit."

Lily stood up and closed her book. "Number one, Potter, your presence has rather been an endless virus to my life ever since we met. Number two, you have absolutely no grace whatsoever, and I back that up with your little performance with the girls' staircase last year. Number three, it's after hours and you would get in trouble by the prefects or professors, and you seem to just get in trouble perfectly fine by yourself. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to bed now." said Lily and went up the staircase.

James just stood there in shock and turned to his friends who were snickering at him. "Surprised there wasn't a number four." he muttered.

Lily suddenly stopped and turned around. "Aaaaaaaaaand number four, Potter… you seriously need to work on your conversational skills. You sound like a bum, really." She smiled and opened the door to her room while James just scowled at her and walked back to his friends.

"Well, apparently there seems to be a glitch in the Potter Charm." said Sirius.

"Yup… redheads and flowers are definitely repellent to its effects." laughed Remus.

"James… that's Lily.. What made you think she would actually go for a walk with you?" asked Peter.

"I don't know… I was on a roll with those Hufflepuff girls back there.. I thought …"

"Yes, you thought, James… but one problem." said Remus.

"What's that?"

"Lily thinks faster."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fun chapter!!! Mahalo! 


	34. The Signs

**Reviewers' section:**

**Kat44: Sorry, it wasn't supposed to be Oliver… the name is actually Paul Wood. I just forgot his name at the time so I used Oliver by accident.  That doesn't sound like a bad idea, but I don't know if I'm going to do that yet.  Lily still thinks boys are horrible, but we'll fix that sooner or later. And yes, it is indeed womanizing time.  Thanks for the review!**

**WolfAxe: Thanks for the correction!  I really appreciate it… because sometimes I forget characters names and whatnot.. perhaps I should write it down? Haha.  Yes, you are one of my first reviewers too, so thanks for still reading the story.  I will update so I can feel loved by you, my friend.  **

**prongs307:  Well what a coincidence that your name is Danny.   He isn't Jade's boyfriend by the way… because you know how Jade is.  She likes to play around with boys' emotions and whatnot… kinda like our pal Sirius Black there.  We'll see what happens.  Perhaps Danny will appear again later on sometime.**

**StarRuby:  Haha I didn't' think it was THAT funny… but I'm glad you did.  Yes, updating has been pretty good for me so far.  I want to get as much chapters in as possible before I get into my slump or not have enough time due to school and whatnot, so yeah.  Thanks for reviewing!**

**harrypfanatic111:  I'm glad it makes you laugh.  It makes me laugh just writing it….  I don't know what's going on through my imaginative head, but whatever it is, it seems to be working.  Thanks for the review.**

**Well I have officially broken the 200 review mark!! I think… the reviews in my stats section says I only have 194, but who cares!! The others say over 200 and I am happy for it.  If I updated as often as I usually did before, I'd say I'd probably have like 500 right now, but hey that's what you get for having mad writer's block and whatnot.  **

**ON TO THE NEXT CHAPTER!**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lily and her friends were up on their way to their first ever Divination class.  This was a class they were extremely excited about, because they thought it'd be pretty interesting to be able to see the future, but Lily and Carly were having their doubts about this.  They never really did believe in psychics and whatnot, but signed up anyway in order to stay with their friends.

"That blasted knight.  I swear if he wasn't a portrait, I'd strangle him." muttered Carly.  Apparently they ran into Sir Cadogan the knight, and he was trying his very best to rescue the four 'damsels in distress'.  

"I don't know… I thought it was kinda funny, actually." said Jade while Lily and Penny giggled.

"Whatever.  I hope I don't have to see him again… whoa!! What the…" Carly glanced at another portrait only to find Sir Cadogan himself marching along with them.

"I must protect the daisy, the jewel, and their comrades to complete safety!  But it seems as though my presence seems to wrangle the dogs of one of the damsels.  I tell you!! I will protect thee as a true knight! Sir Cadogan will fulfill his duty!"

Carly and the rest ran away from the knight who was still talking to himself and the girls headed to the North Tower.  It took a long while to get to the classroom, but finally they got to the trapdoor where the class was supposed to be held.  

"Great… how do we get up there?" asked Jade.

Suddenly a ladder appeared before them and they climbed up into the classroom.

"You know.. we're probably the first ones here.  I doubt anyone else has made it to the North Tower yet, since we kinda know the castle and all." said Lily. 

They opened the door and peeked out only to find four boys sitting in the back of the classroom.

"What… how… wait!  You four!  How in the world did you get here before us?!?"

One of the four looked over and smirked.  "Evans, that really is none of your business."

"We took the shortest route to the North Tower, and even IF you did get here, you would have to walk past us.  We left the Great Hall before you!" shouted Lily.  For some strange reason she was irritated at the fact that the Marauders, no James, had beaten her at something.

"Calm down, Evans.  Us being the Marauders of course know our way around the castle better than even some of the seventh years, so don't get your knickers in a bloody twist."

James realized what he just said.  "Wait, scratch that…. don't let it be a bloody twist… oh bullocks." 

The three Marauders laughed at James.  "It's your fault there, mate.  Don't scowl at us." said Sirius while laughing.

The girls just looked at the Marauders in amusement and took their seats in the corner of the classroom and waited for the rest of the class to show up.

"So Jade, what'd you and your Danny-kins do on your date the other night?" asked Penny.

"Nothing, really… just walk, you know… talk…"

"Snog each other senseless?" smirked Penny.

"Penny! I don't believe you would think of such a thing.  I NEVER kiss on the first date." said Jade with a huff.  Then she smiled a little and said, "Perhaps next time I see him that will happen."

Penny and Jade giggled while Lily and Carly watched in amusement.  

"You two are hopeless." said Lily.

"What!  Lily you can get a date if you wanted to too.  I mean, in my opinion, you are the most beautiful of the whole lot of us." said Jade.

"I am not.  There's nothing special about me.  Not like you three."

"Quit the humbleness Lily." said Penny.

"Yeah… I like your eyes, I wish I had your eyes." said Carly.

Lily smiled.  "I always did like my eyes."

The rest of the class piled in and suddenly a strange professor walked in the classroom and began to flail her arms about.

"Good morning class.  I seemed to have woke up a bit late, so I am doing my daily ritual of scaring the evil spirits away from this classroom."

The Marauders were laughing their heads off as she began to do a crab-like dance while still waving her arms while the other students slowly scooted away from the professor.

"She'll scare the living wits out of everyone here before some dumb evil spirit." said James while the rest of the three snickered.  Remus realized he was disrespecting a teacher and coughed and quickly collected himself.

"James… that's not nice.  Let's listen to what she has to say."

"Always the polite one, old pal Remus." said Sirius as they gradually stopped snickering.

The class continued on and the Marauders were looking at the professor with complete horror.  She just predicted the deaths of over half the students in the class.  She was just about to predict Frank's death when Remus leaned over towards his company.

"Nevermind.  Laugh all you want.  This woman is mad."

Lily and the rest of her friends slowly began to regret ever signing up for this class.  Lily and Carly kept on shooting looks at Jade and Penny that seemed to say 'I told you so' while the other two shrugged.  Lily decided to just look around the classroom in order to make time pass quicker so she could get out of there.  All of a sudden she laid her eyes on a particular boy that was sitting in the front of the classroom.  He had chestnut brown hair that was slicked back a little with a comb, and his bangs were falling all the way down to his eyebrow.  As of that moment, he was doodling on his parchment and Lily felt herself began to grow red in the cheeks, so she quickly turned away.

_What's happening to me? _she thought.

Jade, being her best friends saw this exchange between Lily and the boy and smiled.  "He's cute, isn't he."

Lily looked up at Jade with horror.  Then she looked back down.  This could not be happening to her.  She needed to concentrate on her studies.  She had more important things to do.  She then looked at the boy and felt that feeling again.

She turned to Jade and smiled reluctantly.  "Y-yeah… a lil."

"Then why are you blushing?" smirked Jade.

"I-I-I'm not blushing." said Lily who began to blush more.

"And you're stuttering too.  Perfect sign of crushing on someone."

Lily began to realize that this was bound to happen so she just shrugged and said.  "I guess so."

Jade then giggled and Lily smiled returning to glance sidewards at that 'cute' boy in her Divination class.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"That class was bloody hell." said Carly with a scowl.

"Oh, it wasn't THAT bad." said Penny.  

Jade nodded.  "Yeah, so what if we're only going to see half of our class by the end of the year."

"Well it's still completely outrageous to even think of that stupid class.  Lily was right.  We shouldn't have signed up."  said Carly.

"Well what'd YOU think Lily?" smirked Jade.

Lily looked at her friend and gave her a glare before letting it disappear with a sigh.  "It… it was okay."

Penny looked stunned.  "Lily!"

"What?!"

"Lily Evans, you are going to tell me WHO tonight in our room do you understand?" shouted Penny.

Lily looked up in shock.  "How… how… what… how did you know?"

Jade just smiled.  "Told you Lily… it's the signs that give it away." Jade then handed Lily a pocket mirror which she took.  Lily looked at herself in the mirror and saw her cheeks were rosy red.  

Lily smiled a little and then looked up at her three grinning friends.  "I'll tell you later." she said to Penny and Carly and they went on their way to lunch.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Just thought I'd even out the action with the boys and girls.  Last chapter was all about the boys, so this chapter should be all about girls.  Looks like Lily isn't so stubborn after all.  The revealing of the mysterious Divination Boy will take place next chapter probably, or maybe even the next one after that.  You'll never know.  Review please!! Thanks and I'll see you at the next chapter.  **


End file.
